About 10 years ago, Nancy Cadjan saw a program discussing why to teach baby sign language. She began doing her own research and reading everything she could on signing with babies and even introduced her friends to the information on signing.

Nancy's Own Experience

When Nancy's son was 8 months old, she began signing with him. By 10 months, Alex was signing back MILK and EAT. By 12 months, he was signing APPLE, BANANA, and MORE. By 14 months, he signed over 40 signs including things like SLEEP, MOON, STARS, PLAY, CAT, DOG, PLEASE, THANK YOU, and so forth.

Then, an amazing thing happened when Alex reached 16 months. He began to speak all the words he knew how to sign. He knew how to speak over 100 words! This is amazing when you consider that most 14-month olds can say 5-10 words.

And if that was not enough, Alex decided to learn the alphabet and numbers 1-9 on his own. He had seen them on a Sesame Street video when he was sick and then stood up and went to the fridge where a few letter magnets were and said, "A, H, C, X!" That was the start.

By 18 months, Alex could say over 200 words and started putting multiple word sentences together. Alex mixed words and signs to express himself. His first 4-word sentence was "Drink go fall down" when his sippy cup fell off the high chair.

Creating Sign Babies Flash Cards

Through her years of research, Nancy has tested and tried several different signing programs for babies, parents, and for general audiences.  In her research, she realized that there was little quality printed materials to assist parents and babies.  Because of her previous experience with publishing, Nancy decided to create Sign Babies Flash Cards.  These are the FIRST and ONLY ILLUSTRATED sign language flash cards created with parents and babies in mind.

Certified Instructor

Nancy has a Master's Degree in Rhetoric and English and has years of experience teaching both adults and children. She taught for three years at Brigham Young University.

She is a Sign2Me™ Presenter and has achieved the Sign2Me Presenters' Network Level I Certification, an official acknowledgement of proficiencies and high professional standards.  See Classes for more information about finding a certified instructor in your area.