It can be hard as parents when your child starts struggling, whether it is with something academically or physically. If you are noticing some problems or learning curves with your child’s speech, it can be beneficial to make sure they are physically alright before tackling the problem firsthand.
Never Discourage
The last thing you want to do is to discourage your child. If they are struggling with their speech, pronunciations, and any other learning curves, you do not want to dwell on the issue. Growing up, children quicky notice the differences between two people or ideas, and can easily confuse them as “right” and “wrong.” You do not want them to start associating their speech issues as something terribly wrong, as that can do more harm than good if they want to tackle it and make any improvements. Make sure you use words that show support and that they can handle this. You want your child to feel empowered that they can make improvements in themselves (mostly because they can!) so they are not thinking the issue is insurmountable.
Always Encourage
Maybe your child is not applying themselves enough when it comes to speaking. Maybe they are being picked on at school for a lisp, or being a slower learner than the other students. Maybe they are shy or more reserved and fear embarrassment. Whatever the root of the problem is, make sure to address that before tackling the speech issues. You may not end up making any progress on their speech if you are not fully aware of why they may be struggling.
Reading out loud is basically the most go-to method for children to better improve their speech and pronunciations. They can latch onto words easily but without saying them out loud or having a framework of sounds, they will not be able to apply that knowledge. Make sure your child is reading as much as they can each day, and work alongside them to help. Also ensure that the reading material they have is the right age group for them. They could be reading at too low of an age group, and are not acquiring the newer, bigger words required. Or they could be reading something too complicated, and that is why they continue to get stuck on words. They may get stuck on words pretty easily, and move on instead of learning the true sound. Being there for them can boost their confidence in reading out loud around others, too!
With the right motivation and plenty of books, your child can easily combat any speech issues they may run into!
Kaite Kyzivat