Friday Freebie! Super Star Speech Sampler

 

Does your child have trouble pronouncing the /l/ sound? Or would you just like to get a free peek at my Super Star Speech program that helps parents work with their children’s articulation errors at home?  This week, I’m offering my Super Star L Sampler for free. This volume includes teaching tips, picture cards, and practice activities for the /l sound. Please share with anyone you know who might benefit!

 

 

Until November 15, 2016, you can use this link to purchase the e-book format of Super Star Speech: Expanded Edition for only $14 (reg. $21.50).  The spiral-bound print version is available at the Super Star Speech website.

Super Star Speech Inventory Reduction Sale

Do you have a child or acquaintance who needs some help mastering speech sounds? I hope you will take a look at the Super Star Speech program. For the month of October, I am discounting several of my titles.

The first three books in the Super Star Speech series, Super Star Speech, Super Star R & L, and Super Star S, Z, and Sh, originally sold for $18.95 each. Because the content from these volumes has been incorporated into the Super Star Speech: Expanded Edtion, I plan to discontinue these titles when my current stock runs out. Until October 31, the books are priced at only $6.95. For more information or to purchase, please visit the Super Star Speech website.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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

How To Teach the /s/ and /z/ Sounds

This is an excerpt from Super Star Speech: Speech Therapy Made Simple that explains how to teach the /s/ and /z/ sounds to your child.  /S/ and /z/ can be tricky for many children to learn, so I hope these ideas will be helpful!
I have several more free speech practice ideas and “how-to” tips on my Speech and Language Resources page and LOTS more in my books.

S and Z

S and Z are produced with the front of the tongue raised against the roof of the mouth. The tongue is wide and thin and makes contact with the teeth and gums at the sides and front of the mouth except for a narrow central opening through which the breath (S) or voice (Z) passes. The breath passes over the center of the tongue and hits the front teeth creating a hissing (S) or buzzing (Z) sound. The teeth are slightly apart.
S and Z can also be made by placing the tongue tip against the lower teeth and raising the tongue just behind the tip against the upper gums. This technique can be taught if the first technique is difficult for the child to learn.
The most common S and Z errors are a TH for S substitution and a “lateral S” with the air flowing over one or both sides of the tongue instead of the center of the tongue.
Tips:
1. S and Z can be difficult sounds to teach. Often much trial and error is needed to find the technique that will be successful with any given child. The parent should experiment with different tongue positions and shapes in order to be able to identify the child’s error and to better explain to the child how to change his sound production. Subtle variations in tongue position can make a great difference in the sound produced for S and Z.
2. Demonstrate the sound using a mirror. Emphasize the need for the breath to travel only across the very center of the tongue. Suggest that the child direct the breath “between the front teeth.” Hold a finger in front of the child’s mouth and ask him to direct the airflow right to the finger.
3. Practice raising and lowering, widening and narrowing, and grooving the tongue.
4. Develop S or Z from T, D or N by lowering the tongue tip just enough for air to leak over it. Practice t-s-t-s or n-z-n-z.
5. Develop S from TH by slowly drawing the tongue into the mouth. “th-ssss”
6. Develop S from SH by moving the tongue forward slightly. “sh-ssss”
7. Ear training should be provided so that the child can distinguish a correct from an incorrect production of the sound. Play “listening games” until the child can reliably distinguish the correct sound of S or Z.
8. Instructing the child to bite his back teeth together to produce S or Z can help him to learn more accurate tongue placement. As he becomes more proficient, the teeth should be opened slightly.
9. To correct a lateral S, remind the child that the tongue must be wide with the sides touching the back teeth. Use a popsicle stick to stroke the sides of the tongue that should be in contact with the teeth. Fold a piece of paper to demonstrate the groove that should be down the center of the tongue.
10. For Z, instruct the child to say “ssss” and “buzz with his voice.”
 
Any questions? Please comment here or send me an email at: debbie@superstarspeech.com.

Language Development

Do you ever wonder if your child’s language abilities are at age level? Do you compare your child’s speech with that of other children?

Here are a few things to ask yourself:

Is my baby vocalizing and babbling? Babies should be playing with their voices and sounds. Babies from 3-6 months should be “cooing,” which is vocalizing mostly vowel sounds. Babies begin “babbling” at around 6 months. Typical babbling sounds are, “mamama,” “baba,” “dada,” “gagaga,” etc. It is said that babies under a year old play with all the possible sounds of every language and that after a year of age, the ability to produce and even to hear sounds that are not used in the native language is gradually lost. (Isn’t that cool?) If a baby doesn’t babble and vocalize, or if he stops vocalizing, this could be a sign of hearing loss.

Does my baby make eye contact? Does he try to imitate sounds or facial expressions? Is he learning turn taking? (He babbles, mom babbles back or says something, he babbles again.) Even passing a toy back and forth is a precursor of conversational skills. Children actually begin to learn these early conversational skills well before they are using actual language.

Does my baby or toddler communicate his needs? Even before babies are using actual language, they should communicate by vocalizing and pointing.

Is my toddler putting words together into sentences? Toddlers typically begin using 2-word phrases at about 18 months. If a child is not doing this by age 2, he may be considered delayed in language skills.

If you have any concerns about your child’s language development, please consult a speech pathologist. Children develop at different rates, and your child may be completely normal, but it is very important to catch potential problems early, since language disorders can impact socialization and future educational performance. Often, public schools will even provide free services for preschoolers.