Sign methods

Our books make it easy and fun to learn signing, by combining a word, a picture, a symbol and a sign in one place. This lets you use the book to encourage a child to communicate back with you in more than one way.

We’ve carefully designed the books so you can do this by signing (and where possible by speech), regardless of the proprietary method (such as Makaton® or Signalong®) used in the child's school.

Our approach is based on British Sign Language (BSL) and used in spoken word order. It uses speech, sign, body language, facial expression and voice tone to reference the link between sign and word. As such, it’s a key-word signing system that starts with real objects and experiences.

Although we developed our teaching alongside Signalong®, our signs are based on BSL. This means you can confidently use our books and the signs they contain with other sign-supported communication systems.