We expect children to make mistakes when they learn to talk, but, as parents, how can we help them? Our pediatric Los Angeles Occupational Therapy specialist provides 3 easy parenting tips.
It’s important to remember that your child isn’t being naughty or lazy when they make mistakes in their speech. If your child is substituting, adding, or leaving out sounds, these 3 tips could help them improve their speaking voice.
Emphasize in natural conversation
If your child mispronounces a word for example, “Look at that effelent!” emphasize the proper pronunciation by saying, “That’s a big elephant!” It’s best to not anticipate your child to make the right sound or repeat you immediately. Whenever the same word comes up in conversation, make sure to continue emphasizing the proper pronunciation so your child can hear the difference.
Practice makes perfect
The more you practice, the better you’ll get! Exaggerate the correct pronunciation by using facial expressions to give your child a visible model to copy. Don’t mistakenly give your child the letter rather than the phonetic sounds it makes, for example, not ‘em’ but ‘mmm’.
Have fun with it
Reinforcing the right sounds in a fun way is a great method to get your child to quickly remember the correct pronunciation. Here are some fun ways to accentuate the right sounds:
B – “The ball goes ‘bbb’.” – bouncing a ball can help visuals
D – “The drum goes ‘ddd’.” – pat a surface to pretend to drum
F – Make a rabbit face and make a ‘fff’ sound
M – “This food is good, ‘mmm’.” – use when eating with or feeding
P – “Piece of ‘ppp’ paper.” – folding a piece of paper can help visuals
V – “Cars go ‘vvv’ vroom.” – use when driving with your child
Show your child that you enjoy talking to them and encourage them to use their words as much as they can. Don’t forget to always praise their efforts to improve their speaking voice.
It could be helpful to contact a pediatric speech specialist to help improve speaking voice in your child. At LA Speech Therapy Solutions, our experienced pediatric Los Angeles Occupational Therapy team would love to help!
About LA Speech Therapy Solutions
LA Speech Therapy Solutions is dedicated to fighting and preventing delays in children’s development. Their Los Angeles Occupational Therapy team helps their patients improve their daily activities. Anyone who is looking for a pediatric Los Angeles Occupational Therapy facility should visit www.laspeechtherapysolutions.com or at 2836 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026 (323.522.6071).
