Sign Language - Older Kids

Graduating from Baby Signing

If your child is ready to learn to read, using American Sign Language to help teach your child learn to read may be one of the best things you can do. And it has a long history of success.

In the early 19th century, educators realized that sign language helped the hearing siblings of deaf students learn to read. Due to political reasons, the findings were not studied further. Then, in the 1970s, other researchers found that hearing children with average or above intelligence whose parents were deaf parents actually learned to read before they began school if their parents signed and fingerspelled to them. Researchers surmised that this was due to the fact that these children made the connection between manual letters (fingerspelling) and printed letters.

But such results are not unique to the hearing children of deaf parents.

In more recent research, the children of hearing parents who were exposed to fingerspelling also had similar results. Marilyn Daniels, author of Dancing with Words, showed that signs helped kindergarten children increase their speaking vocabulary as well as knowledge of sight words, letters of the alphabet and phonetic sounds. Children who had problems remembering letters, words or sounds were often able to recall needed information once they saw the sign for the word (1996, Sign Language Studies).

In my own personal experience, I have found that my 3 and a half year old son's interest in spelling and reading increased as we began to teach him the manual alphabet. He can fingerspell a dozen words and we have noticed that his recall is much better when he learns a word using both the manual alphabet and the written alphabet.

Using sign language to increase reading abilities has even made it in to the school systems. Laura Feltzer, who has used sign language to teach general education students, ESL students and special needs students, found that students tested at or above the beginning of first grade level on the Oral Gray Reading Test. Feltzer's sign language beginning reading program is available on line for parents and educators to access with full materials and signs.

So, if you think signing is JUST for hearing babies while they are members of the diaper set, think again. As you sign with your baby now, you are creating the basis for a proven method to teach reading and phonics to your preschooler, ensuring a life-long love of reading!