Sign to your kids. You won’t regret it!
Apr 16, 2025
I never sat down and debated whether or not to sign with my kids 🤷🏻♀️
I’d seen the life-altering benefits of signed languages with so many of my students in the past - hearing and deaf - and so it really wasn’t a hard decision.
My hearing son was born 3 years before our deaf son (we had no idea that he was on his way) And yet we still signed, because giving our eldest boy all the avenues to learn language just felt like the natural thing to do.
So we did ❤️
Fast forward to now?
Our hearing son has racked up more academic awards for literacy than I ever did (spoiler alert: I got zero 🤣)
And my deaf son is working 2 years above his age level and we haven’t even hit school yet! 🔥
And look this isn’t a brag post (okay yeah it is, but I’m bloody proud so #SorryNotSorry 🤣).
But it’s also a PSA for every single person out there continuing to perpetuate the OUTDATED idea that signing to deaf kids - or any kid! - is disadvantageous.
Because here’s the truth (and here’s what it’s done for our two boys) 👇
➡️ Supercharged their early brain development and made learning new concepts so much faster
➡️ Built a massive vocabulary bank well before either of them began speaking
➡️ Strengthened their memory and recall - they both still sign certain words to themselves when they’re trying to process or remember something.
➡️ Prepped those little fingers for writing (check out that first photo of our eldest at 18 months - pencil grip on point 😅👌🏼)
➡️ Supprted early phonological awareness in ways most people don’t acknowledge (that’s right, signing actually supports reading and literacy).
So… next time you tell someone not to sign to their kids, you better be ready to back that argument up - because I guarantee you, you won’t be able to 🤷🏻♀️
Moral of the story?
Sign to your kids. You won’t regret it 🔥
*NOTE: When referring to “sign”, I mean natural signed languages taught by and connected to Deaf Communities and their rich culture. I am not talking about “baby sign”, Key Word Sign, Makaton etc.
Want to Go Deeper?
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📩 Need help choosing the right option? DM me or email [email protected] (always here to help!)
Clare x
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