Teaching the /k/ and /g/ Sounds

This is an excerpt from Super Star Speech: Expanded Edition. Super Star Speech includes practice materials, picture cards, and games to teach almost every speech sound. /K/ and /g/ are common errors in 3-4 year olds. Most children tend to substitute /t/ for /k/, and /d/ for /g/, resulting in speech that is very difficult to understand! If your child struggles with these sounds, try out these ideas. I hope they will help!

K and G

 

To produce the K and G sounds, the back part of the tongue is raised and pressed against the roof of the mouth (soft palate), stopping all airflow. The front of the tongue is lowered. The tongue then drops, allowing the air that has been held behind the tongue to escape suddenly. The K is voiceless, produced by airflow. The G is produced with the voice “on.”

Tips:

1. Demonstrate the sound in front of a mirror. Use a spoon or popsicle stick to touch the back of the tongue and the soft palate to help the child feel how the sound is made. (Be cautious about triggering the gag reflex as you do this.) Have the child put his hand, paper, or a feather close to the lips to feel or see the puffs of air.

2. Strengthen the back of the tongue and help the child identify the part of the tongue to be raised by pressing downward on the back of the tongue with a spoon while the child tries to push upward.

3. Have the child attempt to say T while you hold the tongue tip down.

4. Play listening games to help the child practice discriminating between /t/ and /k/ or between /d/ and /g/. (“Is this a dog?” “Is this a gog?”)

5. Exaggerate the target sound when modeling it.

 

 

Here are a few activities to practice the /k/ and /g/ sounds:

Repeat each pair several times. Emphasize the difference between /k/ and /t/ and between /d/ and /g/.

tea—key                                      go—dough

talk—cock                                   do—goo

can—tan                                      done--gun

kin—tin                                        doll--gall

tap—cap                                      Don—gone

it—ick                                          bad—bag

bat—back                                     bed—beg

Think of a word that rhymes with each of these words. Say each word pair 3 times.

rock                make

rack                 Mike

look                 wig

hog                   tag

pug                   cloak

 

More practice activities can be found at http://superstarspeech.com.

Teaching the “sh” Sound

This is an excerpt from Super Star Speech: Expanded Edition. Super Star Speech includes practice materials, picture cards, and games to teach almost every speech sound. More practice materials are available at http://superstarspeech.com.

SH

SH is produced with the tongue tip raised and placed just behind the gum ridge. The tongue position is slightly behind the tongue position for S. The tongue sides contact the upper side teeth so that the airflow is directed over the tongue tip. Lips are slightly rounded.

Tips:

1. Demonstrate tongue placement and lip rounding, using a mirror.

2. Develop SH from S. Have the child hold an S sound while slowly sliding his tongue back until SH is produced. A drill of TH-SSS-SHH may be helpful. Use the analogy of a turtle sliding his head back into his shell.

3. If the SH is too “hard,” sounding like a CH, instruct the child to say it slowly and softly. Have him draw out the sound for several seconds, perhaps blowing on his hand or a feather.

4. If air is leaking around the sides of the tongue, producing a distorted or lisping SH, have the child practice widening and narrowing his tongue, using a mirror. The tongue should be widened in the production of SH. Touch the sides of his tongue and instruct him to press the tongue sides against the back teeth. It may be helpful to lower the tongue tip with a popsicle stick to allow airflow over the top of the tongue rather than around the sides of the tongue.

 

This activity will help your child contrast the /sh/ sound with /s/ and /ch/.

Say each word pair as quickly as you can:

Sea --- she

Sell --- shell

Sort ---short

Sin --- shin

Sue --- shoe

Sip --- ship

Ship – chip

Chin –shin

Cheat – sheet

Shoe – chew

Share – chair

Sheep – cheap

Help Your Child With Articulation Errors

Does your child have a speech sound error or two that he doesn’t seem to be outgrowing? By age 7 or 8, children should have mastered all of their speech sounds. Some sounds, of course, should be produced correctly well before that age. To see a chart of when each sound should be mastered, click here.

If you suspect or know that your child has an articulation problem, seeing a speech-language-pathologist for an evaluation is a wise first step. He or she will be able to tell you exactly which sounds are in error—there may be some that you haven’t noticed! Even if you opt to work with your child at home, the speech pathologist should be able to give you some tips and get you started. However, this isn’t the preferred option for many parents. Perhaps you can’t afford speech therapy or fit it into your schedule. Perhaps you don’t want involvement with the public schools.

If you would like to work with your child’s speech at home, here are some guidelines and ideas. First, pick a sound or group of sounds to work on. You may want to pick an easier sound to start with, or one that is important to the child, such as a sound in his name. Make the sound yourself and consider exactly how it is made. Where in your mouth does your tongue touch? Does the air leak through slowly, such as in an “s”? Or does the air pop out quickly, as in a “t”? If your child cannot produce the sound at all, you will have to describe this to him.

Teach your child to say the target sound in isolation (not in words). Model it for him. Use your finger, spoon handle, or popsicle stick to touch his mouth or tongue in the target spots. When your child can produce it, practice. Practice, practice, and practice some more until he really knows it well by itself.  Then practice words that begin with the target sound, moving on to words with the sound in the middle or at the end.

When your child can produce the sound in words with 95% accuracy, begin practicing in sentences. By the time sentences are mastered, you will probably hear the sound being used most of the time in conversation. This may take a few weeks or longer. Don’t expect your child to use the sound in conversation right away—it will take time before he can produce the sound correctly without thinking about it.

Make your speech practice time fun. Keep the sessions short, but practice every day. Play board games, making your child say his word 3 times before every turn. Hop across the room, repeating the sound with every bounce. With dedicated practice, you should soon see improvement in your child’s articulation skills!
For more materials and tips for working with your child’s speech at home, please visit my Super Star Speech website and Super Star Speech blog.