ARTICULATION

  Missing or distorted speech sounds take a lot of effort to correct.  Students work very hard to learn proper tongue placement, how to listen for and feel what a "good" sound is, and to retrain their muscles to move smoothly and efficiently in this new position.  In class students learn sound techniques, practice in different contexts and have their progress monitored.  Just like 30 minutes of basketball practice a week will not make a great basketball player, speech sessions are not enough to produce good speech.  Home practice is essential for creating "good speech" in all environments, and not just in the speech room.

 

     At the beginning of each month children are given a calendar and told their target speech sound.  Every day they are to write a new word that contains that sound.  If they have difficulty finding a word, a dictionary is recommended.  Students are encouraged to choose words that may be unfamiliar to them, so that they may develop their vocabulary skills.  Thinking of and finding a word with their sound increases children's awareness of it.  The students are then required to say the word and all the previous words written that month.  They are encouraged to judge their own sound production.  Mirrors can be VERY helpful. 

 

Homework partners can listen to the student.  They can ask the student how they make a "good" sound and make sure the child is saying the words slowly while focussing on quality.  They can offer encouragement and provide feedback to the practicing student.

 

ADDITIONAL PRACTICE LISTS: 

Follow the speech sound list llink to find lists of words of commonly produced sounds in the beginning, middle and ends of words.  They can be read or used in a sentence/story.  Remember, if you don't know the meaning of a word--use the dictionary to look it up!