Contents
Hello! Today we will talk about how to teach a child to pronounce the letter r. Speech therapists note that this problem is the most common and difficult.
Therefore, in addition to classes with a specialist, it is also important for parents to devote time and attention to exercises. Only joint work will help to achieve the desired results. Well, what exactly needs to be done, you will learn further.
Causes of difficulties
Initially, it is important to correctly determine the cause of this complexity. Because there are situations when articulation exercises alone are not enough, minor surgical intervention is also necessary.
So, the main reasons for the incorrect pronunciation of the letter «R»:
Poor mobility of the speech apparatus
In this case, you will have to actively grimace in order to at least slightly develop the mobility of the organs that are involved in speech. For example, you can play a game of who will be the first to reach his chin or nose with his tongue. It is also useful to curl your lips into a tube, smile broadly, blow out a candle, you can imagine it, grin like a wolf and move your jaw from side to side.
Short hyoid ligament (bridle)
This feature can be detected by a specialist, so it is extremely important to initially consult a speech therapist before starting classes. Because ordinary exercises for the development of the articulatory apparatus will not help, it is also necessary to do special exercises that will help stretch the hyoid frenulum. It is in this situation that surgical intervention is prescribed if other methods fail to achieve a result.
Habitat
The child strives to be like adults, therefore he repeats after those who are significant to him. He copies not only behavior, but also speech. Accordingly, if they lisp with him, distort words, or also do not pronounce the letter “P”, it is worth having a conversation on how to speak correctly, and how not to. And also that imitation does not always lead to success.
Respiratory failure
The main cause of breathing problems is an increase in adenoids, chronic runny nose, sometimes even diseases of the immune or cardiovascular systems. The speech therapist, taking into account the characteristics of the child, prescribes special gymnastics, where speech and physical exercises alternate.
Difficulties with phonemic hearing
The kid, hearing the correct pronunciation of words, is not able to reproduce them correctly due to the fact that he confuses deaf and voiced sounds, hard and soft consonants. Sometimes it just misses some letters from sight. To make matters worse, adults are usually amused by such mistakes. And when they catch on, a sufficient amount of time passes, the wrong speech already has time to form. So to speak, the incorrect pronunciation of any words is fixed and the child has to make a lot of efforts to control it.
Behavioral features
Sometimes it happens that a little man decides to simplify his life, which is why he follows the path of least resistance. To clearly pronounce the letter «R» — you need to make some effort. And if you try to do this with the help of a guttural tongue, then the task seems not so difficult. Only now the guttural «P» is more like «N» or «G». Plus, parents usually fail to recognize what makes the sound, so they direct their efforts in the wrong direction when trying to teach their child to speak correctly.
Articulation exercises
Initially, it is necessary to prepare the speech apparatus, develop articulation, so that in the future it will be easier for the baby to cope with this difficult sound for him.
- Swing. For stretching the hyoid frenulum. It is necessary to open your mouth as wide as possible and move your tongue, sometimes touching the upper teeth, then the lower ones. Only with small pauses, 10 seconds.
- Animals. Let him open his mouth slightly and touch his upper lip with the tip of his tongue, trying to pronounce the syllable “bl” quickly and many times, as if copying a turkey. Then click the palate with your tongue, as a horse does. By the way, it will be useful to hold the tongue in a position pressed against the palate for about 10 seconds. This will allow you to slightly stretch the bridle.
- Jam. You should lick your lips as if your mouth were smeared with chocolate or jam. Or imagine that the tongue is a brush, and the kid himself is a painter who was given the task of painting his teeth, cheeks and palate.
More articulation exercises can be found here.
Pronunciation training and correction
- At first, pronounce the sound «R» separately from the rest of the sounds. Then, when you realize that you can complicate the task, come up with syllables that contain it. For example, RA, RI, RU. Swap them, and finally, in order to improve the newly acquired skill of correct pronunciation, add whole words.
- Other letters. Let him place his tongue near the upper teeth and growl as he exhales, or say «D». This will not be easy to do at first, support him, without reproaches and punishments. You can also put your finger under your tongue and say “F” about 5 times. When it starts to work out, let him start moving his finger, previously washed, from side to side.
Recommendations
- Try to conduct classes in a playful way, otherwise the baby will have a negative attitude towards them, as a result of which he will simply resist training and performing tasks incorrectly.
- Have patience. Some children take a long time before they show the desired result. Sometimes it takes a whole year, or even a year and a half.
- If you keep calm and consistently engage with your child, then he will definitely learn how to pronounce “R” correctly. If you put pressure on him, then you will simply harm and devalue the whole path that you have traveled together.
- Be sure to consult a speech therapist and follow all his recommendations.
- At first, in no case do not offer the baby complex words, and even more so tongue twisters, with an emphasis on «P».
- When the first successes appear, you can build a conversation with him in such a way that he is forced to answer using words with the necessary sound.
Completion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Finally, I want to recommend an article about articulation, or rather, why every person needs it. Perhaps you will learn something important from it that will help improve your own speech.
Take care of yourself and be happy!
Also, we recommend reading an article on how to teach a child to talk in general.
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina