Apr 6th 2012
Can your child not say his/her "s"?
Are people finding it difficult to understand him/her?
There are certain things you can do at home to help your child improve his// pronunciation. It will take time, consistency and a little bit of creativity as well as concentration from your child, but stick to these guidelines and you will see improvements soon.
First and foremost remember that every child is different and every " wrong" "s" is different too! But I like to stick with these general rules because from experience I find that they really work.
• To make the nice long snake hissy "s" sound we first have to make a big smile with our teeth together.
• The tongue has to be tucked in behind the teeth (I don’t normally take too much notice about where exactly the tongue is as long as it is tucked in behind because some people have it in behind the top teeth and others behind the bottom teeth).
• Get a straw and place it in the middle of the lower lip.
• Say the "s" sound.
• If your child is saying it properly the air should go through the straw!
• To get the feeling or the sound of air going through the straw first ask your child to just blow so he/she can hear the hiss the air makes going through the straw and feel the warm air at the bottom of the straw. Then go back to " smiling teeth", straw and saying "s".
When this exercise is nice and easy for the child, try removing the straw.
This is where creativity from your part comes in! It is pretty boring to keep on saying " ssssss", so we need to keep the kids entertained. Make long ones and short ones, get them to draw a short snake and a long snake and trace their finger while making the "s" sound.
Then maybe play a game where you have to take turns, you both do the "s" sound during your turn.
Or like a friend of mine did with his son: when he was walking around town, every time his son stood on a crack he had to make the "s" sound. Easy, but nice and effective!
It is tough work for the child to keep up concentration, so once the "s" can be done without the straw the best thing to do would be to work on it a few times during the day for a short little bit.
Include it into your routine somehow:
• on your way to school in the car, do long and short "s"
• after lunch, maybe play a short turn-taking game
• before bed, do another 15 minutes of "s" work.
At the beginning they might have to be reminded to show their smiling teeth, tuck the tongue in behind etc.
Just be reassuring and remember that this is tough work for your little kid who until now has been saying their "s" in a completely different way.
Once the "s" is easy to say for the child you can introduce a few vowels. The activities should again be regular and consistent as before. This time though have the child say
eeeeeesssss,
aaaaaaasssss,
uhsssss,
owwwwwssss,
ooooooossss,
eyessssssss,
ehhhhssssss, etc.
Once again when this is achieved or is becoming incredibly easy start with a few words:
ice, fence, twice, grass, glass, mouse, mice, house, horse, etc
The words will be difficult. Do not expect the child to be using his/her new lovely "s" in general conversation for another little bit. Just stick to getting the best results during the exercise times. Try to have all attempts during these exercises really good.
The rest of the day, avoid correcting the "s". You wouldn’t want your child to become shy about speaking. In time, the "s" will become second nature, but the steps to get there, do take time.
Usual order to learn "S":
The order that is usually followed is: (remember each step needs to be perfect or almost before moving on)
1. "s" on its own
2. vowel + "s"
3. words ending in "s"
4. "s" + vowel
5. words beginning with "s"
6. vowel + "s" + vowel
7. words with "s" in the middle
8. consonant + "s" e.g. rs = cars
ds = beds
ns = pens
9. "s" + consonant e.g. sp = spark
sk = scar
st = stone
• Each step is difficult and will need time, practice and concentration to master.
• As the level of fluency increases then exercise time becomes longer.
• You can focus on making sentences or else maybe focus on free speech during 30 minutes a number of times a day, where you " correct" or point out the "s".
Are you with me so far? A lot to take in I know, but it is all about patience and perseverance.
Only one final point!
Many kids put a "t" sound before the "s" to help them get the hissy sound out.
I work with a little girl who does this and we have agreed that we don't really like the "loud" sound at the beginning so she whispers that bit and then gets the hissy sound out nice and long and loud.
Reinforcing the correct sound and tongue placement has really helped her, as does using a mirror, just to give her a bit of immediate feedback.
Each child is different and tolerates different correcting and teaching so do be patient and above all creative!
Rosdun.com
Can your child not say his/her "s"?Are people finding it difficult to understand him/her?
There are certain things you can do at home to help your child improve his// pronunciation. It will take time, consistency and a little bit of creativity as well as concentration from your child, but stick to these guidelines and you will see improvements soon.
First and foremost remember that every child is different and every " wrong" "s" is different too! But I like to stick with these general rules because from experience I find that they really work.
• To make the nice long snake hissy "s" sound we first have to make a big smile with our teeth together.
• The tongue has to be tucked in behind the teeth (I don’t normally take too much notice about where exactly the tongue is as long as it is tucked in behind because some people have it in behind the top teeth and others behind the bottom teeth).
• Get a straw and place it in the middle of the lower lip.
• Say the "s" sound.
• If your child is saying it properly the air should go through the straw!
• To get the feeling or the sound of air going through the straw first ask your child to just blow so he/she can hear the hiss the air makes going through the straw and feel the warm air at the bottom of the straw. Then go back to " smiling teeth", straw and saying "s".
When this exercise is nice and easy for the child, try removing the straw.
This is where creativity from your part comes in! It is pretty boring to keep on saying " ssssss", so we need to keep the kids entertained. Make long ones and short ones, get them to draw a short snake and a long snake and trace their finger while making the "s" sound.
Then maybe play a game where you have to take turns, you both do the "s" sound during your turn.
Or like a friend of mine did with his son: when he was walking around town, every time his son stood on a crack he had to make the "s" sound. Easy, but nice and effective!
It is tough work for the child to keep up concentration, so once the "s" can be done without the straw the best thing to do would be to work on it a few times during the day for a short little bit.
Include it into your routine somehow:
• on your way to school in the car, do long and short "s"
• after lunch, maybe play a short turn-taking game
• before bed, do another 15 minutes of "s" work.
At the beginning they might have to be reminded to show their smiling teeth, tuck the tongue in behind etc.
Just be reassuring and remember that this is tough work for your little kid who until now has been saying their "s" in a completely different way.
Once the "s" is easy to say for the child you can introduce a few vowels. The activities should again be regular and consistent as before. This time though have the child say
eeeeeesssss,
aaaaaaasssss,
uhsssss,
owwwwwssss,
ooooooossss,
eyessssssss,
ehhhhssssss, etc.
Once again when this is achieved or is becoming incredibly easy start with a few words:
ice, fence, twice, grass, glass, mouse, mice, house, horse, etc
The words will be difficult. Do not expect the child to be using his/her new lovely "s" in general conversation for another little bit. Just stick to getting the best results during the exercise times. Try to have all attempts during these exercises really good.
The rest of the day, avoid correcting the "s". You wouldn’t want your child to become shy about speaking. In time, the "s" will become second nature, but the steps to get there, do take time.
Usual order to learn "S":
The order that is usually followed is: (remember each step needs to be perfect or almost before moving on)
1. "s" on its own
2. vowel + "s"
3. words ending in "s"
4. "s" + vowel
5. words beginning with "s"
6. vowel + "s" + vowel
7. words with "s" in the middle
8. consonant + "s" e.g. rs = cars
ds = beds
ns = pens
9. "s" + consonant e.g. sp = spark
sk = scar
st = stone
• Each step is difficult and will need time, practice and concentration to master.
• As the level of fluency increases then exercise time becomes longer.
• You can focus on making sentences or else maybe focus on free speech during 30 minutes a number of times a day, where you " correct" or point out the "s".
Are you with me so far? A lot to take in I know, but it is all about patience and perseverance.
Only one final point!
Many kids put a "t" sound before the "s" to help them get the hissy sound out.
I work with a little girl who does this and we have agreed that we don't really like the "loud" sound at the beginning so she whispers that bit and then gets the hissy sound out nice and long and loud.
Reinforcing the correct sound and tongue placement has really helped her, as does using a mirror, just to give her a bit of immediate feedback.
Each child is different and tolerates different correcting and teaching so do be patient and above all creative!
Join our newsletter! Get weekly updates, keep in touch
with our newest topics.Be the first to
comment on the new articles.
