Home Remediation of Developmental Sounds
Like language, sound production follows a developmental pattern. In fact, some sounds are not mastered until 8 years of age! We understand that you may be concerned with your child’s way of making a sound. So while we are waiting to see if maturation will remedy the sound, there are some steps that you may do at home to help your child.
The important things to remember are these…. (1) make it fun; (2) make it do-able, (3) make time for it each day; (4) give it some time… this will not be changed in one week! At any time during this process, you have any questions or concerns, please call the speech/language pathologist named below. We will help you in either providing more information or activities, or by rechecking your child. It is our desire that the later developing sounds your child is having difficulty with will resolve on their own. If you do not see any improvement over the next few months, please let us know!
Steps towards remedation:
- Have your child practice the sound by itself. If they are having a hard time figuring out the placement, then practice with a mirror. This task can be a little monotonous, so have them practice it 10 times in the morning…. 10 times around lunch, or when you get home from work…. And 10 times before going to bed. You can have them work for dried beans, which they can put in a jar. When the jar is full, then your child can have a predetermined reward! Continue working at this level until your child is able to produce the sound 90% of the time (or 9 out of 10 times)!
- Add a vowel to the targeted sound… it should look like Consonant – Vowel. You can mix up the vowels… and continue the reward system (or whatever works for your child) as above. If you find that your child is having a hard time with changing the vowels around… then just stick with an easy vowel, like u as in up. Continue this until you see that they are able to make this combination around 90% of the time!
- Now you are ready to put it in a word…. A one syllable word! Using words with one syllable helps the child to focus on the sound. You can make a game of it by involving the whole family to come up with as many one syllable words with the targeted sound in the initial position of the word. For example, if you were targeting m, then you would use words like mat, man, map, etc. Have your child practice your list daily with a predetermined reward system.
- Read books from the very beginning, which will target the sound…. Or even just point out the words which have the sound in it from other books you are reading with your child!
- Have your child tell you the story back, and praise them when they use their sound correctly!
- Be on the hunt!!! When your child is able to produce the sound at word level, then set aside 5 or 10 minutes each day when you are going to be on the ‘hunt’ for them to use their sound while they are speaking… this may take some prompting at first, but they will catch on quickly! You can use a book, craft activity, cooking or baking activities… or playing a game! This is what we call carry-over. It can be a hard thing to do. But with practice, your child will start putting the sounds in the conversation! Praise them when you hear them use their sound without any prompting! This is a tremendous step!
At any time during this process, you have any questions or concerns, please call the speech/language pathologist named below. We will help you in either providing more information or activities, or by rechecking your child. It is our desire that the later developing sounds your child is having difficulty with will resolve on their own. But after a few months of practice, and no noticeable improvement…. Then we should conduct another assessment.
We are a team! We want your child to be successful in their communication!
Visual Cues for Sound Production:
- For a v or an f sound…. Associate it with looking like a bunny!
- For an s sound…. Put your teeth together, put your tongue behind your teeth, and sound like a snake!
Books to reinforce specific sounds: (please check your local library for these books)
S sound (these books are recommended for grades 1 – 5, so please take a look at them to see if they are young enough for your child)
- Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
- The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats
- Good Night Owl, by Pat Hutchins
- Six Creepy Sheep, by Enderie and Tessler
- Arthur’s Nose, by Marc Brown
- Pickle Things, by Marc Brown
Th sound (these books are recommended for grades 1 – 5, so please take a look at them to see if they are young enough for your child)
- Arthur’s Nose, by Marc Brown
- Tyler Toad and the Thunder, by Robert Crowe
- You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum, by Jacquelline Weitzman
- Would you Rather, by John Burmingham
L sound
- The Very Lazy Ladybug, by Finn and Tickle
- Is your Mama, a Llama?, by Deborah Guarino
- Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp, by Mercer Mayer
- There’s an Alligator under My Bed, , by Mercer Mayer
V sound
- The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
- The Very Lazy Ladybug, by Finn and Tickle
- The Very Worst Monster, by Pat Hutchins
F sound
- Annie and the Wild Animals, by Jan Brett
- The Grouchy Ladybug, by Eric Carle
- Don’t Forget the Bacon, by Pat Hutchins
- Mouse Mess, by Linnea Riley
- Don’t Fidget a Feather, by Erica Silverman
- Farmer Duck, by Martin Waddell
G sound
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff, by Peter Asbjornsen
- Grandfather Twilight, by Barbara Berger
- Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
- Good Night Gorilla, by Peggy Rathman
K sound
- Annie and the Wild Animals, by Jan Brett
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
- Mouse Mess, by Linnea Riley
- Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
- Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola
- Corduroy, by Don Freeman
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.
- Chimps Don’t Wear Glasses, by Laura Numeroff
B sound
- The Baby Beebee Bird, by Diane Massie
- Ride a Purple Pelican, by Jack Prelutsky
- Mouse Mess, by Linnea Riley
P sound
- To Market, To Market, by Anne Miranda
- Ride a Purple Pelican, by Jack Prelutsky
- Mouse Mess, by Linnea Riley
- For Laughing Outloud: Poems to Tickle Your Funnybone, by Jack Prelutsky