Ever wish your baby could just tell you what they want? No crying. No tantrums.

This course is for you.

Introducing the “American Sign Language for Babies & Children” course in Transparent Language Online.

Created by the experts at Signing Savvy (who created our Beginner ASL course for adults), this course is made for any adult looking to use ASL with babies and young children—whether they’re Deaf or hearing.

The lessons emphasize natural, everyday situations (looking at you, potty time) so you can incorporate ASL into the moments you are already sharing with children.

Your baby will probably still cry. But learning to sign has major communicative benefits for both hearing and Deaf children. Let’s get into it.

What is baby sign language?

Let’s get one thing straight: baby sign language is American Sign Language.

It’s not a separate language. It’s not cutesy signs made up for babies. It’s real ASL simplified for use with infants and toddlers. Not unlike speaking baby talk with hearing children.

⚠️ Be skeptical of any course teaching baby sign language that uses made-up or modified signs, as they can be confusing, lack linguistic consistency, and don’t honor the cultural integrity of ASL. Children deserve to learn accurate language, and teaching accurate ASL helps them build a real language foundation and respects the Deaf community.

Why sign with your baby or child?

Every child can benefit from learning ASL.

Obviously for Deaf children, it will be an essential, lifelong skill. For hearing children, it can speed up early communication and have lasting benefits.

Learning to sign builds early brain and language development, which can result in better social-emotional development, earlier communication before speech, and fewer tantrums.

Children who learn ASL have been shown to develop larger vocabularies and have stronger verbal and reading skills. They also experience the bilingual brain benefits experienced with learning a second spoken language, including improved memory and attention.

Who can learn ASL with this course?

The themes focus on the daily routine of babies and toddlers, but this course is designed for adults.

Any parents, caregivers, educators, and others supporting early childhood communication who want to learn ASL to use with babies and young children.

Accessibility features make it useful for both hearing and Deaf adults:

• Audio support: Many ASL courses are taught “voice off” with no audio as speaking is not part of signing. To make it accessible for hearing adults, this course includes voice-over audio.
• Visual support: All important info is on the screen, so Deaf adults won’t miss any information or instruction or be left out of any of the interactive activities.

Whether you are starting with a newborn or introducing ASL to a toddler, preschooler, or older child new to signing, this course will help you incorporate ASL into daily routines.

Babies naturally use gestures, facial expressions, and body language like waving, pointing, and mimicking. Learning to sign taps into this communication. You can start as early as birth, just like you would talk to a newborn. Babies as young as 4 months can begin using signs, but it’s never too late to start.

What will I learn?

This course is organized into thematic units covering familiar parts of a child’s day, including:

• Family Time
• Meal Time
• Potty Time
• Play Time
• Bath Time
• Bedtime
• Polite Time

Each lesson starts with a video tutorial that introduces a handful of key signs. For example, in bath time, you’ll learn signs like: bath, water, hot, and cold.

Those high-frequency, developmentally appropriate vocabulary and short phrases will help your child express their wants and needs.

The videos don’t just show you the sign. With 70+ combined years of ASL teaching experience, the instructors give specific guidance to help you replicate each sign correctly. You’ll come to understand hand dominance, signing space, receptive and expressive signing, and more.

Interactive activities then help you practice signing and recognizing signs so you’re ready to truly use the signs with your baby. Hopefully before any meltdowns.

By the end of the course, you will be well equipped to support early communication, foster meaningful connections, and build a strong language foundation through ASL.

“American Sign Language for Babies & Children” is available now in Transparent Language Online. Free with your library card at thousands of libraries throughout the US and Canada.

And if you’d like to learn ASL to communicate with Deaf patrons at your library, check out the ASL for Librarians course, also created by the experts at Signing Savvy and available free to all librarians!