Preschool is teaching the whole class a few signs for a classmate who doesn't speak. Should we learn them too?

breezy_compass_323812 Sept 2026

There is a non-verbal child in my son's preschool class, and the teachers have started teaching all the children a handful of signs: more, finished, help, water, toilet. I only found out because my son, who is not yet 3, signed 'finished' at the table on Tuesday and then looked at us as though we were being slow. I would like to support this at home rather than let it fade. Is it worth learning the signs ourselves, and where do parents usually pick up the ones schools use? I am assuming the teacher would share a list if asked, but I haven't asked yet, so that is an assumption.

4 comments

juniper_puzzle_737712 Sept 2026
We'd have loved this when ours was that age. He screamed for 'more' for about a year. Copy whatever your son shows you and ask the teacher for the rest.
coral_fern_106712 Sept 2026
I'd learn them. A friend's son picked up a few signs at his playschool and used them for months whenever he was too upset to get words out. They turned out to be useful for him, not only for the child they were first taught for.
violet_hammock_634412 Sept 2026
Learn them. It's five words, not a language course. You're overthinking it.
mint_chalk_54812 Sept 2026
Good to hear a school doing this. One of our medical reps told me about a doctor on his route who signs with some of his patients, and how the whole waiting room had picked up a few signs. Children pick these things up far faster than we did.