How to Support Clear Speech at Home

How to Support Clear Speech at Home

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Whether your child is receiving speech therapy or not, there are many ways to support the clarity of your child’s speech at home.

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• Model - children learn the sounds of their language through exposure. Provide them with opportunities to hear and see the sounds by getting on their level while talking so they can hear and see what your mouth is doing when producing words.
  
  
• Don’t say “say…” - rather than trying to get your child to imitate you, model the word in context so it is meaningful and functional. Then, wait. Give them the opportunity to attempt the word in their own time without pressure. Children need longer processing time than adults so be patient!
  
  
• Highlight when you have understood - try saying “Oh, you mean “three”, not “free”! This helps them understand how sounds convey meaning in words and how subtle changes can make a big difference.
  
  
• If they are able, encourage them to correct their own speech errors - “I didn’t quite understand you were saying, can you try that again?”
  
  

• Reinforce and praise their efforts to correct errors – “Good work- you said each part of the word- ‘e-le-phant’. Now I know what you mean!”
  
  
• When you have not understood what they have said, try to clarify by asking further questions - ‘Are you talking about our topic- animals? ‘Can you show me?’, ‘Can you point to it?’
  
  
• If you haven’t understood a word, try repeating it back what they said (as they said it) to see if they try to correct you or support you to understand them better.
  
  
• Pick your moments to correct - some sounds are really hard for your child to make. If you’re correcting sounds all the time, they will likely become deflated and less motivated to correct.
  
  
• PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE, correct, PRAISE - in other words, always praise and give positive reinforcement more than you provide correction.
  
  
• If your child has a severe speech difficulty, it is helpful to avoid correcting their errors or asking them to repeat what you say. While well-meaning, this can often lead to withdrawal and avoidance behaviours.

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Clear speech is important for being understood, for making friends, for self-esteem as well as supporting literacy development.