General Guidelines for Speech-Language Home Practice

You can turn almost any game you play with your child into an opportunity to practice his/her speech and language skills. Explore this section of our website to find general hints for working with your child, ways to use games and materials you already have and links to online sites where your child can practice his/her skills.

HAVE FUN!

• Try not to punish incorrect responses by saying no, that's not right. The goal is to encourage and reward their efforts and cue them so that they can produce the word correctly. Some ways to do this are:

  • Demonstrate how to make the sound by

    • Modeling Describe how you make the sound; where to put the tongue, lips, or teeth.sound for your child.

    • Verbal cueing I need to hear your new sound in that word (i.e. Is that wain or rain?)

    • Awareness Is that word incorrect or correct ( i.e. Is that word correct/incorrect? Let me hear it again.)

    • Positively Reinforce:

      • I can see you are trying, let's try it again this way.

      • Nice try, remember to ...

      • Good effort, don't forget to ...

      • I like the way you made that sound!

Activities to Promote Articulation Skills at Home

Here are more 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 your 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.