Speech practice at home

Jumping between sounds slows everything down. Choose one target — the sound your child's SLP recommended, or the one you notice most in everyday words — and keep it for a few weeks.

Attach practice to something that already happens: after dinner, before a bedtime story. Five minutes is enough. Ending early keeps your child willing to start tomorrow.

Say the word first, let your child try it two or three times, then celebrate the effort and move on.

• Model slowly and clearly, without exaggerating into a funny voice
• Invite, never demand — "your turn!" beats "say it again"
• Praise trying, not accuracy

A few things make home practice harder, not easier.

• Don't correct every word all day — keep practice to its own short slot
• Don't ask your child to "say it properly" repeatedly; model it instead
• Don't turn it into a test — praise the try, not the result
• Don't practice when either of you is tired or rushed

SoundSprout is home practice, not an assessment. Talk to a speech-language pathologist (SLP) if any of the following sounds familiar — they can work out which sounds to target and how.

• People outside the family often can't understand your child
• Your child is frustrated, avoids speaking, or is being teased
• A sound your child's peers use easily still isn't there
• You're simply unsure — an SLP screening is quick and reassuring