K & G

TIPS FOR TEACHING THE /K/ AND /G/ SOUNDS

1. Have the child lean his head back so the tongue slides back to the oral cavity. Sometimes having the child actually lay on his back is needed.

2. Use a Mini Tootsie Pop to told the tongue tip down and then tell the child to make the sound or flavored tongue depressors can also be used in the same way

3. Talk about making a “surprise face” (mouth wide open, tongue tip down) and say “aahhhh”. Then tell the child to keep tongue tip “right where it is” on the bottom teeth, 4. and make the “cough sound” right here, (tapping my throat as a visual). Having the child cough, or lay on floor for gravity to move tongue back for K. For G have the child pretend they are drinking water.

4. Have students lay down on the floor under a table on their backs. Shine flashlights up at pictures that I are taped underneath the table.

5. Use animals cut in half to demonstrate a visual concept of front and back. Then talk about front and back sounds.

6. Have the child do an H sound in a loud, but voiceless, manner: HUH-HUH-HUHKKKKKK. Attach the KKK to the end of the HUH. I might tap behind the child’s jaw at the same time to provide some tactile cues.

7. For discrimination, make a K or T sound and point to a corresponding picture of a T with a ticking clock or a K with a crunched paper. Have the child point to answers as you exaggerate the sounds, including an open mouth for K.

8. If a child does not produce /k/ or /g/ correctly in any words, then we do have to provide information about place of production. The first thing I would want to know is whether or not the child produces "ng" correctly. If yes, then I can use "ng" to teach the approximate place of production for /k/ and /g/. All three sounds are classified as velar consonants. Their production involves raising the back or dorsum of the tongue to make contact with the roof of the mouth about at the boundary of the hard and soft palate. Ask the child to start by producing "ng" and then to "stop" the air flow. This occurs by moving the soft palate to block off the nasal cavity. Once air pressure builds in the oral cavity, the child can either use a "breathy" release for /k/ or a "noisy" release for /g/. Voicing on /g/ might be easier if you use a brief "uh" vowel on the release. If children struggle with raising the soft palate during the "ng" production, you might ask them to block their nostrils with their fingers. This allows them to feel the build up of air pressure.

9. Use /y/ if your client already has it because it too is a back sound. Have him say “yuh-yuh-yuh…” and tell him to push up higher in the back. You may start hearing “gyuh-gyuh…” Then you’ve got it.

10. Tap the back of the crown of the head to show him the high spot where he should push the back of the tongue up.

11. When a client struggles to produce the /k/ and /g/ sounds it is usually due to difficulties with tongue retraction/ oral motor weakness. Tongue retraction is the ability to elevate the back of your tongue. Difficulties retracting the tongue can be observed when the client drinks from a straw. Suckling a straw is another instance where children exhibit the inability to retract the tongue.

• How to Teach the /k/ Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
• 12 Ways to Teach Your Child the /k/ Sound by Home Speech Home
• How to Elicit the /k/ Sound in Young Children from Speech Language Resources