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Baby signing - a childminder's experience

11 Aug 2005

Margaret Heath from Sheffield has been childminding for 15 years, the past five of them in partnership with her husband, Robert. Both have found their knowledge of Makaton Signing invaluable in working with children who have Down's syndrome, delayed speech, and other communication needs. They recently joined Sheffield's 'special needs' childminding network.

Five years ago, a mum of one of the children they were caring for became pregnant and asked if they would look after the baby part-time when she went back to work. Robert was self-employed at that time, working from home, but he was also registered as a childminder so he could help Margaret out. To enable the Heaths to take on the baby, he decided to work part-time so that he could do more childminding. He enjoyed it so much he was soon childminding full-time.

The baby, Jessica, had Down's syndrome. "At six months, a speech therapist suggested using Makaton Signing with her," explains Margaret, "so we did a beginners' course with funding from an Early Years Intervention grant. Shortly afterwards, our childminding development worker found that our local special educational needs department had funding to train new Makaton tutors, and put my name down." Today Margaret runs Makaton courses about once a month for childminders, nurseries, and even parents.

When Jessica was a year old, her dad came to pick her up from the Heaths' house one day. "We were all stood in the hallway and she looked up and made the sign for 'light'. It was such a wonderful moment, we all cried!" says Margaret. "She went on in leaps and bounds. By the time she was two she could use nearly 300 Makaton signs. At three, she could only speak half a dozen words, but because she could communicate all her needs through signs she never showed frustration.

"We realised that, because we were signing with Jessica, the other children were using the signs to communicate with her, too. One boy we were caring for at that time then went on to school, but still came to us every afternoon. On the first day of his second term, he came running in and said: "Margaret, guess what? There's a new boy in my class and he's got Down's syndrome. He can't speak, but he uses Makaton. And nobody could talk to him except me!"

In a typical day, Margaret and Robert use Makaton signs at breakfast, lunch and dinner, whenever they sing songs or tell stories, and in general play. "Even children who can't normally sit still when you read a story, will sit still if you sign it as well. Signing automatically slows your speech down and makes it more precise. The children concentrate on your hands as well as listening, and the slower pace gives them time to repeat the signs themselves," says Margaret.

The Heaths believe signing definitely promotes spoken language and doesn't delay it. "We always use speech at the same time as signing, as the spoken and signed words emphasise one another. Jessica's first words when she learned to talk at three-and-a-half were all words she could sign."

(Make Chatter Matter, NCMA report to mark National Childminding Week, 2005)

Tags: Talk To Your Baby