More Communication Modes   Signing Builds a Bridge
Sign language is an effective way of helping babies as young as 6 months learn to communicate, says Monica Beyer, author of Baby Talk: A Guide to Using Basic Sign Language to Communicate with Your Baby (Tarcher): "You use signing to bridge the communication gap to spoken word from the things they are thinking but can't say."

Here are some tips for teaching your baby to sign:

Wait to start until baby can sit up on his own.
Be consistent. You can use American Sign Language, come up with your own signs, or use signs your baby creates.
Use the sign before or during the activity. Repetition is key.
Be patient. Signs introduced between 6 and 9 months might not be imitated until 7 to 12 months.
Don't worry that signing will delay oral communication. In fact, studies show that signing helps build vocabulary and encourage language development. Signing also helps limit the tantrums that result from failed attempts at communication. "My kids developed the ability to sign first instead of launching into hysterics," Beyer says.

How Reading Helps
How Reading Helps Language Develop
Hand your 6-month-old a board book, and he's more likely to gnaw on the pages than look at them. And reading to a newborn -- he's not going to get it, so is it worth the time? The short answer is yes, says Caroline J. Blakemore, coauthor of Baby Read-Aloud Basics (AMACOM). Reading to your child -- even if he doesn't seem riveted by the story, at least not yet -- improves listening skills, attention span, and memory, Blakemore says. It also helps children understand the meanings of words and learn uncommon ones. "Compared with ordinary talk between a child and parent, children's books have three times more rare words," she adds. Consider the word "cocoon" in Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar -- there's a word you probably don't use every day. (Same goes for "caterpillar," for that matter.) In fact, by age 4, children who are read to are exposed to 32 million more words than children who haven't been exposed to books.

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