Would you like to get your kids to willingly cooperate? Stop the daily battles? Teach your kids valuable life skills? If your answer is Yes! Yes! Yes! then read on . . .

There are so many things we must get our children to do and so many things me must stop them from doing! Get up. Get dressed. Don’t dawdle. Do your homework. Eat. It goes on and on. We can get our kids to cooperate and at the same time allow them to learn self discipline and develop good decision making skills. How? By offering choices.

Giving a choice is a very powerful tool that can be used with toddlers through teenagers. This is one skill that every parent should have tattooed on the back of his or her hand as a constant reminder. Parents should use this skill every day, many times a day. Giving children choices is a very effective way to enlist their cooperation because children love having the privilege of choice. It takes the pressure out of your request, and allows a child to feel in control. This makes a child more willing to comply.

Using choice is an effective way to achieve results, and when you get in the habit of offering choices you are doing your children a big favor. As children learn to make simple choices — Milk or juice? — they get the practice required to make bigger choices — Buy two class T-shirts or one sweatshirt? — which gives them the ability as they grow to make more important decisions — Save or spend? Drink beer or soda? Study or fail? Giving children choices allows them to learn to listen to their inner voice. It is a valuable skill that they will carry with them to adulthood.

You should offer choices based on your child’s age and your intent. A toddler can handle two choices, a grade-school child three or four. A teenager can be given general guidelines. Offer choices such that you would be happy with whatever option your child chooses. Otherwise, you’re not being fair. For example, a parent might say, “Either eat your peas or go to your room” but when the child gets up off his chair, the parent yells, “Sit down and eat your dinner, young man!” (So that wasn’t really a choice, was it?)

Here are some ways in which you can use choice:

Do you want to wear your Big Bird pajamas or your Mickey Mouse pajamas?
Do you want to do your homework at the kitchen table or the desk?
Would you rather stop at the gas station or give me the money to fill the tank?
Do you want to wear your coat, carry it, or put on a sweatshirt?
Would you prefer to let the dog out in the yard or take him for a walk?
Do you want to run up to bed or hop like a bunny?
What do you want to do first, take out the trash or dry the dishes?
Do you want to watch five more minutes of TV or ten?

A typical problem with choices is the child who makes up his own choice! For example, “Taylor, do you want to put on your pajamas first, or brush your teeth?” To which little Taylor answers, “I want to watch TV.” What to do? Just smile sweetly and say, “That wasn’t one of the choices. What do you want to do first, put on your pajamas or brush your teeth?”

If your child is still reluctant to choose from the options that you offer, then simply ask, “Would you like to choose or shall I choose for you?” If an appropriate answer is not forthcoming then you can say, “I see that you want me to choose for you.” Then follow through. Make your choice and help your child – by leading or carrying him – so that he can cooperate.

A mother in one of my classes reported using this skill with great success at home. It was after dinner and she said to her husband, “Honey, would you like to clean up the dishes or put the kids to bed?” He responded, “Hey! You’re using that choice this in me!” (All the skills presented in my book will work with adults, too.)

Copyright Elizabeth Pantley. (McGraw-Hill, 2003)

About the Author:
Elizabeth Pantley is the author of several books, including Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry — Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby, The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night, Kid Cooperation (with an introduction by William Sears, MD), Perfect Parenting, as well as her latest The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers and is also president of Better Beginnings, Inc. She is a popular speaker on family issues, and her newsletter, Parent Tips, is seen in schools nationwide. She appears as a regular radio show guest, and has been quoted in Parents, Parenting, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, American Baby, Working Mother, and Woman’s Day magazines. Visit Elizabeth’s web site http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth.

From all the studies conducted in this field the benefits of introducing your baby to sign language are vast.

Baby sign language
Can empower your baby to communicate with those around them before they are able to speak.  This means that your baby may be able to communicate what they want when they want it. It may also enable them to initiate a conversation about topics that interest them. Furthermore it bridges the gap between no language and spoken language.

Can reduce frustration for both you and your baby.
Sign language may allow your baby to tell you what they want, what’s wrong or what hurts. Therefore your baby may experience less frustration, tantrums and crying. If your baby is able to communicate their basic needs to you, it means you do not have to try and interpret their cries. Sign language can help reduce those tear-filled frustrated moments.

Can enrich the parent-child relationship.
By introducing baby sign language into your home, you are enhancing the bond with your baby. The nature of Baby sign communication leads you and your baby towards responding to each other in turn and this is a really valuable skill. Signing involves daily interactions with your baby that will eventually lead to a two-way conversation.

Can provide an insight into your baby’s mind and who they really are.
Baby sign language allows your baby to initiate a conversation with you about what they are interested in. It allows you to see what they are thinking, what they are interested in and what the world looks like from their view. All this before your baby can talk!

Can stimulate intellectual development and improve memory.
Children are fascinated with sign language and often pay greater attention to what is being taught when it is involved. It has also been shown that when children learn a word in conjunction with the sign, they are more likely to remember the meaning of the word.

Can accelerate the speech process.
Research has shown that children who use sign language may acquire spoken language faster than non-signing children.

Can enhance a baby’s confidence, self-esteem and self-expression.
Due to a baby’s ability to communicate their needs, wants and interests through signing, a baby may become more confident.

Baby sign language can stimulate brain development and potentially increase your baby’s I.Q.
Teaching sign language can stimulate your baby’s brain development. Research has illustrated that signing babies achieve higher scores on future I.Q. tests (up to 12 I.Q. points higher) than children who learn to speak in the traditional manner.

Signing can stimulate brain development as when learning sign language you use both the right and left hemisphere of the brain compared to learning a spoken language, which only uses the brain’s left hemisphere. This use of both hemispheres results in the brain building more synapses.

Children who keep up sign language are effectively bilingual.
By introducing your baby to signs from Australian Baby Hands, you are introducing your baby to a second language. Brain research suggests that language skills are acquired best in the first years of a baby’s life. Also, by introducing Auslan to your baby and continuing to use this wonderful language after they can speak, you are giving your child the gift to communicate with the Australian deaf and hard of hearing community in sign language.

About the Author:
Jackie Durnin is the Author of “Australian Baby Hands”, the first book to use Auslan, Australian Sign Language to communicate with your baby. Australian Baby Hands is currently being implemented by parents and Childcare centres around Australia. For more details go to www.australianbabyhands.com where you can register for your “FREE” alphabet chart. For further information info@australianbabyhands.com.

Babies learn our language in a very different and perhaps progressive manner. Initially, they hear sounds and form them into patterns. They might even notice different syllables. They also have an innate perception for tone, which can convey and show feeling and emotion of the speaker. But the ability to communicate simply is not there yet. A high pitch voice can cause a baby to smile simply because of the tone. All babies learn and understand language prior to their ability to articulate exact phrasing of words. They can often learn to convey simple thoughts, such as “more”, “change” and “eat”.

The main point is the bridge the gap between the ability to communicate and the ability to be understood. Luckily, there’s a way to do this. It is known as “baby signs”. Baby signs can be very effective in the reinforcement in the development of a baby’s language skills. As parents, we can assist in this development and lowers the frustration level of a baby.

The theory behind baby signs is to assign a common but consistent gesture to a word. The more common word can be “eat”, “more”, “potty” etc. Perhaps it could be pointing to your mouth. The point is to have the baby associate the gesture with the meaning of the word. Some common points are to speak to the baby directly, making good eye contact and do the gesture at the same time. You can begin doing this as to the baby as young as 2-3 months. If so, they by the time the baby are 10-12 months, they can communicate with you using baby signs.

The earlier your baby starts learning signs, the earlier they will start using them. It’s all about the connection that the baby makes in their brain with ideas and signs. This connection has been proven to give them a head start in the world of verbal communication. Which will lead to speech as soon as possible. The most important point is that it reduces the baby’s frustration level with their ability to communicate with you.

Some opponent of this theory says that babies using baby signs might not effective with their speech. However, studies and my personal experience have proved otherwise entirely. The connection between thoughts and word are form earlier, which lends itself to a higher, and a more satisfying form with existence.

Even though baby signs are a relatively new concept, it is very effective with new babies and how they can talk to their parents. Everyone in his or her family raves about the increased comfort level with the baby.

About the Author:
Dave Poon is an accomplished writer who specializes in babies and toddler foundations. For more information regarding baby super store, please drop by at http://www.babyinfoforyou.com.