Promoting Good Speech and Language
Here are some fun, easy ways to practice your child's sound
at home. Even five minutes per day will
encourage generalization and improve your child's success with his/her target
sound(s)!
1. Take a sound walk; walk with your child through the neighborhood, a park or a shopping center. Tell your child to look for things with his/her target sound and make them. 2. The fishing game can be used for any sound. Attach a string with a magnet to a stick. Have small picture cards of the child's target sound. Put a paper clip or staple at the top of the picture. Have you child try to "catch fish" and name each one. 3. On three small paper bags, paste a word or picture card of an object with the target sound - one in the beginning, one in the middle, and one in the final position (if the sound is S, you might have a sun, a castle, and a dress). The child selects a card or picture, says that word, and then drops it into the bag that matches the sound position. 4. Find and cut out pictures from magazines, newspapers or coloring books. Make a sound collage by gluing all of the pictures with your child's target sound onto one page. 5. Visit the public library with your child. Have him/her select books that might have characters with names that begin with your child's target sound. As you read the story, have your child name those characters using his/her sound correctly. 6. Any board game can be used for carry-over. Before your child takes a turn, spins the spinner, or rolls the dice, have him/her say a word with the target sound five times. 7. A trip to the grocery store is a great time for sound practice. Ask your child to spot food or product names throughout the store with his/her target sound. As he/she names what they find, have him/her use that word in a sentence! 8. If your child enjoys talking to relatives on the telephone, use that time as an opportunity to reinforce clear speech. Explain that it is especially important to correct his/her speech sounds so that the listener can understand his/her message. If necessary, practice what your child will say before he/she speaks. 9. When eating out, have your child search for his/her sound on the menu. Have him/her rehearse what they would like to order, and have him/her use his/her best speech to tell the server what he/she would like! 10. Flip through pictures or photo albums (children LOVE to look at their baby pictures!). Have your child name who is in each picture and what that person is doing. Encourage clear speech and correct your child's production of his/her target sound as you enjoy looking at each snapshot. |