Marilyn Daniels is a highly distinguished and respected professor of communication arts and sciences at the Penn State University in America. She has completed extensive research into the benefits of teaching sign language to hearing children. Her highly acclaimed book ‘Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children’s literacy’, provides powerful evidence of how sign language improves children’s English vocabulary, reading ability, spelling proficiency, self esteem and comfort with expressing emotions. This is a quote from her book, which we highly recommend. (Please note that we have changed the letters ASL to BSL)

“Become an early partner with your child as together you dance with the words of BSL. Both your fingers and hands and your child's fingers and hands can create meaning in the air as you exchange messages in sign language. For your child, this dance will activate formative links in the developing brain; teach phonics, vocabulary, word recognition, and comprehension; become a precursor to the recognition of print; provoke positive feedback from others; give access to Deaf people; engender feelings of self-worth; and ultimately aid reading and spelling and communicative ability in general. It is a dance with words, to be enjoyed from babyhood, through childhood, to adulthood."

~Dr. Marilyn Daniels, Dancing With Words: Signing for Hearing Children's Literacy.