Nursery or childminder speech development

[DinoHat]

I think this subject has been done to death, but my little boy is 2 and has a mild speech delay. He has a seen a speech therapist and I asked if a nursery might be better than his CM for helping with this. She wouldn’t commit either way but said nursery have more resources for play, he’ll be with other children his own age so will have more opportunities to model his peers etc. She said once he gets his free hours to use them - the inference being in nursery.

CM is not flexible (in fact less so than the nursery I have in mind) so factors like that don’t really come into play.

I think my gut is saying try nursery. The CM is great and I’m sure she is conscientious etc but I can’t help but feel she’s more limited in what she can do learning wise and resource wise.

He is only in 3 days so I’m less bothered about him having a parental figure.

I just want to do whatever is best for his language and development skills.

I would think that being around more children would be a plus for the side of the nursery but a childminder may have smaller ratios ie. adult to child so your child may get more one to one speaking practise with them.

Yes. The childminder has a 2 other children mostly, one much younger and one much older so in terms of other peers they’re probably not similar developmentally.

Although she does do the school run so I’d say the quality time is probably more limited to when she has the daytime children. 9.30-3.

You might have already done this but If you speak to the nursery about his speech delay they might be able to give you some idea on how they would support him / ask if they have staff trained in speech language and communication needs. Some nurseries are fantastic but it really varies massively.

@Dandelion3 thank you. I’ve just dropped them an email actually to ask how they would be able to support him. He went for a brief stint pre Covid and I loved the nursery, it was circumstance that dictated the change with Covid.

I’m also thinking in view of Covid and it not looking like it’s going away, nursery might provide the peer to peer interaction that he’s otherwise missing because of Covid.

My 2 year old has a speech delay and his speech has come on significantly since he started nursery 4 weeks ago. He has older siblings and we’ve all always read to him/played with him/talked to him etc, but being around other children his own age seems to have given him the push he needed.

@TheOneWithTheBigNose that’s really interesting, thank you. I’m wondering if that would help as that’s really what he’s lacking right now owing to Covid. I have sensed that my child is quiet and so, is at times, overlooked. Especially with the older children there. I know the TV goes on after dinner and that worries me too. Not that TV is the source of all evil but I like to think that’s my cheat and not something to be used when I’m paying!

It depends on the childminder and it depends on the nursery. Sorry.

I was a childminder for nearly 10 years and I had many training sessions on speech development, loads of resources, read many books on the subject. Was trained on 'Every child a talker' for example, which doesn't exist anymore but was a good program to monitor speech progress and was familiar with various speech disorders and their symptoms.

I have also worked in a nursery where staff were 'supervising' the children as opposed to interacting with them. Not sure how that would help really.

School-based nurseries tend to have better training and more resources, and at least one fully trained teacher. They also share Teacher Assistants which may have been trained in speech development.

You could always seek advice from ican . ican.org.uk/

[quote Worknoplay]It depends on the childminder and it depends on the nursery. Sorry.

I was a childminder for nearly 10 years and I had many training sessions on speech development, loads of resources, read many books on the subject. Was trained on 'Every child a talker' for example, which doesn't exist anymore but was a good program to monitor speech progress and was familiar with various speech disorders and their symptoms.

I have also worked in a nursery where staff were 'supervising' the children as opposed to interacting with them. Not sure how that would help really.

School-based nurseries tend to have better training and more resources, and at least one fully trained teacher. They also share Teacher Assistants which may have been trained in speech development.

You could always seek advice from ican . ican.org.uk/[/quote]
Our area still has the ‘every child a talker’ programme.

Good to know, our area stopped the training for it some years ago. It's a good programme.

Thank you. I think childminder is good and the nursery also really good.

I’m struggling with holiday cover and illness with the CM. He’s been with grandparents for 3 of the last 6 weeks because of it so have other reasons for wanting to move over too.

I’m also thinking in view of Covid nursery can offer what he’s lacking at home/socially whereas the CM is more limited.

Go for it then. Many parents use a childminder when the child is small and move to a nursery or pre-school at the age of 3-4.

@DinoHat

Thank you. I think childminder is good and the nursery also really good.

I’m struggling with holiday cover and illness with the CM. He’s been with grandparents for 3 of the last 6 weeks because of it so have other reasons for wanting to move over too.

I’m also thinking in view of Covid nursery can offer what he’s lacking at home/socially whereas the CM is more limited.

That was what drew me to nursery, essentially. They can offer him something that I am currently unable to, which is socialisation with children his own age. Until he went, he had barely encountered any other children his age. He’s absolutely loving it and has really come out of his shell.

Yes. I really like the childminder but am hoping the nursery will plug the gaps I can’t atm - mostly cause of Covid. I can see why it might be preferable for young children. He’s very energetic now and I am wondering if nursery will provide a more stimulating environment.

Depends on the CM and depends on the nursery. The CM I used when mine were little had no TV, and she was a talker. She talked a LOT.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz my little one is often watching TV when I collect him. I sense that’s something she does after dinner with them and not all day, but it does sometimes make my heart drop a bit as I like to put tv on at home when I get in whilst I cook and then I feel he’s already had enough there.

She is nice and the children well mannered. My little boy has learnt his please and thank yous, but actually the speech therapist said that 2 years isn’t a time for manners and there’s more important language to learn. I’m not sure how “fun” she is, I think she’s quite pragmatic like me - I’d be crap in childcare!!

I think as pp have said it depends on each CM and nursery, but I would have thought as a broad rule of thumb, the more interaction the better?

FWIW in my NCT group, the earliest talkers and those with the broadest vocab are those who've been to nursery. They also speak more clearly. The ones who've stayed at home are very hard to understand, by comparison, but their parents understand them fine - it's like they haven't yet had to learn to be understood. The ones at CM are somewhere in the middle. But that could just be coincidence 🤷‍♀️

Obviously I'm biased because my DS is at nursery!

My daughter goes to a childminder. She’s coming up 2 and 3 months ago I was panicking her language was behind as she only had about 3 words. However she’s suddenly taken off and I can’t count how many words she has now! On one day she is the youngest there, with a 4 year old and an almost 3 year old and apparently lots of her new words etc are copied from these older children. I think that mix of ages can be very beneficial (probably more to the younger ones), than being with just a group all the same age like you’d get at nursery. However it does very much depend on the childminder.

I think it depends on the setting tbh.

Mine have come on brilliantly at the CM, but she is really, really good (and no school runs) and whilst she does have small ones most are 2-4, so for younger children they learn a lot from the older ones. It's also a lot more individual and flexible. But it really depends.