Baby Talk

Baby Talk

It is a timeless story. The baby is crying and a pair of exhausted, overwrought parents struggle to figure out just why their baby is upset. The baby or toddler is frustrated and upset because they want something and cannot communicate just what it is that they want. They get more and more frustrated and upset and begin to cry. Babies and toddlers, although unable to communicate clearly through spoken language, can communicate clearly through sign language and at a remarkably young age too! This helps end the little one's frustration and encourages them to make efforts to communicate further needs in the future to get what they want instead of crying or throwing a fit. The parents thus become less stressed since they then can understand what their baby is trying to communicate. Then suddenly, we have a happy family!

There is one catch though. First, both the baby and parents must learn this simple form of sign language. This is where you come in! You will teach baby sign language classes to parents and their babies. Tailor your classes specifically for your small clients. Instead of teaching an entire language, you concentrate on simple words that would include the most frequent requests a baby or toddler would like to make. You can teach your sign language classes over a period of six weeks, conducting one class per week and charge about $100 per person. Each week you introduce a few new words, showing the signs for each and helping your students form their fingers and hands into the appropriate configurations. With each successive class, you will review the words from the week before and introduce a handful of new words.

It is surprising how young a child can be and still be able to communicate. Most children are able to begin signing between six and nine months of age. Most parents though, want to have already mastered baby sign language before this age so that they can begin showing the signs to their babies right from the start. This teaching can begin as soon as the baby is able to maintain eye contact. Although an infant can understand these signs earlier, they are not able to sign themselves until around six to nine months of age. It is most common for baby sign language to be taught to children during the ages of six months up until about thirty-six months of age.

At the conclusion of each class, you would likely want to provide a brief, printed page of instructions to each student in the class so that they will remember the words they have learned and so that they will have a sheet of techniques to take home and review later with a spouse or other member of their family. You could also offer copies of baby sign language books for a small profit for students who would like to accomplish a more advanced sign language on their own.

Remember that the information that you will teach is in very high demand. Initially, you will likely want to print up flyers advertising your class. You could easily advertise such a class using flyers placed in grocery stores, medical services buildings, health food stores, libraries, and community center bulletin boards. You should also request to place your flyers on the information boards of obstetricians' offices, community medical centers, and baby stores. After you have taught your classes, your client base will probably grow quickly as grateful parents sing your praises and news of your classes spreads through word of mouth.


Resources:

http://www.tinyfingers.com/

http://www.mybabycantalk.com/

http://www.lifeprint.com/

http://deafness.about.com

http://www.signingbaby.com/main/

http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/

http://www.kindersignscanada.com/