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| Why isn't he talking yet? Should he know more words? Why can't he say that sound? How can I help? |
Therapy Ideas and Information
The following is a collection of therapy ideas and information that parents may find helpful. The information is provided for
parent education and use at your own discretion. The information is not necessarily endorsed by Speech Check or it founder.
Please note that the conversion of the documents to "nice" html layout is ongoing. You can also view this information in the
more "readable" .doc and pdf formats.
The following is a collection of therapy ideas and information that parents may find helpful. The information is provided for
parent education and use at your own discretion. The information is not necessarily endorsed by Speech Check or it founder.
Please note that the conversion of the documents to "nice" html layout is ongoing. You can also view this information in the
more "readable" .doc and pdf formats.
Modeling Good Speech
Modeling back good speech is a powerful way to help children learn speech sounds and good grammar.
For sounds:
When your child says a word and “misses” a sound say the word back to them in a very positive way placing
emphasis on the sound that they had problems with. Place emphasis by saying the sound louder, longer, by tapping
your finger on the side of your mouth when you say the sound and by repeating it. If he said “The tat is nice” you
could say “Yes, that is a very nice cat. I like cats. I think the cat likes you. Look the cat has a brown foot.” By
repeating the word several times you are adding power to the modeling. Of course you would never want to correct
your child in a way that would make them feel bad about how they are talking. Saying “No that’s not the right sound.
Say it this way, say cat.”, only makes your child feel bad about their talking.
Once your child has gotten fairly good at saying the sounds you could draw their attention to problem sounds
a bit more by asking if they heard the right sound when they say a word. If he tried to say “spoon” and it came out
“poon”, you could say, “Hmmm, I didn’t hear the snake (s) sound, did you? Lets try again.” Giving sounds labels
such as “the snake sound” often helps younger children understand what you mean. Make sure to also point out
times where your child has gotten sounds that he is working on right. Especially praise times where your child goes
back and “fixes” sounds on his own.
For grammar:
Use the same modeling idea of going back and saying words over in a very positive way, placing emphasis on
words that were missed. For grammar place emphasis by saying the word louder and by repeating it. If you child
said “Him is nice” you could say “Yes he is nice. He is fun to play with.”
Modeling back good speech is a powerful way to help children learn speech sounds and good grammar.
For sounds:
When your child says a word and “misses” a sound say the word back to them in a very positive way placing
emphasis on the sound that they had problems with. Place emphasis by saying the sound louder, longer, by tapping
your finger on the side of your mouth when you say the sound and by repeating it. If he said “The tat is nice” you
could say “Yes, that is a very nice cat. I like cats. I think the cat likes you. Look the cat has a brown foot.” By
repeating the word several times you are adding power to the modeling. Of course you would never want to correct
your child in a way that would make them feel bad about how they are talking. Saying “No that’s not the right sound.
Say it this way, say cat.”, only makes your child feel bad about their talking.
Once your child has gotten fairly good at saying the sounds you could draw their attention to problem sounds
a bit more by asking if they heard the right sound when they say a word. If he tried to say “spoon” and it came out
“poon”, you could say, “Hmmm, I didn’t hear the snake (s) sound, did you? Lets try again.” Giving sounds labels
such as “the snake sound” often helps younger children understand what you mean. Make sure to also point out
times where your child has gotten sounds that he is working on right. Especially praise times where your child goes
back and “fixes” sounds on his own.
For grammar:
Use the same modeling idea of going back and saying words over in a very positive way, placing emphasis on
words that were missed. For grammar place emphasis by saying the word louder and by repeating it. If you child
said “Him is nice” you could say “Yes he is nice. He is fun to play with.”