Welcome to speech sound practice! We believe that parents and caregivers are a child's best teacher and there are many things that you can do at home to improve your child's communication skills. 

Please refer to the individual sound pages for your child's target sound to find more information about the process of articulation therapy and fun ideas for practicing speech sounds at home. 

If you have specific questions regarding your child's speech sound production and/or how to practice at home, please contact your child's speech-language pathologist.

Speech Sound Development

Young children do not pronounce speech sounds correctly all of the time. The chart below shows the age that most children pronounce the English consonant sounds correctly. Other languages spoken in the home may affect development of English speech sounds.

General Articulation Strategies:

• Be a good speech model! Speak slowly, accurately and allow your child to see your face while you speak.  This will assist him/her to see and hear your clear, correct model of sounds and words.
• Reflect back your child's statement when he/she makes a speech sound error.  Emphasize the correct speech sound (e.g., if your child said, "Wabbits ah cuddly" respond by saying, "Yes, rabbits are cuddly.").
• If you have no idea what your child has said: Reflect back the portion of the statement you have understood, pause and have a rising intonation as a means of inviting him/her to repeat the statement.
• Ask your child to show you, or encourage him/her to gesture, point to, or describe what he/she is talking about.
• If you still do not understand, be honest and let your child know that you are having difficulty understanding.
• If  your child is trying to communicate with someone else who doesn't understand, facilitate his/her communication by repeating his/her comment.
• Play games, sing songs, or read books that have your child's target sound in them.

 Speech Sound Resources

• Speech Sound Practice Log
• The 'K' Sound | Cards: Initial K Words, Medial K Words, Final K Words
• The 'G' Sound | Cards: Initial G Words, Medial G Words, Final G Words
• The 'F' Sound | Cards: Initial F Words, Medial F Words, Final F Words
• The 'V' Sound | Cards: Initial V Words, Medial V Words, Final V Words
• The 'S' Sound | Cards: Initial S Words, Medial S Words, Final S Words
• S Blends | Cards: Initial SK Words, Initial SP Words, Initial ST Words
• The 'Z' Sound | Cards: Initial Z Words, Medial Z Words, Final Z Words
• The 'CH' Sound | Cards: Initial CH Words, Medial CH Words, Final CH Words
• The 'SH' Sound | Cards: Initial SH Words, Medial SH Words, Final SH Words
• The 'J' Sound | Cards: Initial J Words, Medial J Words, Final J Words
• The 'TH' Sound | Cards: Initial TH Words, Medial TH Words, Final TH Words
• The 'R' Sound | Cards: Initial R Words, Medial R Words, Final R Words, Rabbit Cutout
• R Blends | R Blend Board Game, R Blend Picture Cards, R Blend Playing Cards
• The 'L' Sound | Cards: Initial L Words, Medial L Words, Final L Words
• L Blends | L Blend Board Game, L Blend Picture Cards, L Blend Playing Cards
• Mobile Apps for Articulation
• Apraxia | Childhood Apraxia Fact Sheet, If I Could Tell You, Letter to a Teacher

Other Helpful Websites

• The Process of Articulation Therapy
• Practical Speech Therapy Activities for Home Practice: Mommy Speech Therapy
• Working Speech and Language Into Daily Routines: Speech and Language Kids
• Talk Box: Speech Sounds Checklist