If your child is like many children, practicing speech at home might be easier said than done. What seems to us like a simple task can be boring, frustrating and hard to a child.
Changing a learned motor pattern is a difficult task and it can become frustrating having someone correct the way you speak. When children are faced with a difficult task, their natural response is to… resist. Trust me, I’ve seen it all. Crying, yelling, disengagement, difficulty focusing…when your child doesn’t want to participate, it can be a stressful time for all.
Here are some strategies to help make practicing speech at home easy and fun!
Positive Reinforcement. If you’ve ever taken a course in psychology, you’ve undoubtedly come across this term. For those of you who haven’t, this is basically a fancy way of saying “rewarding a desired behavior”. Years of research has shown positive results with rewarding positive behavior (in this case, saying speech sound targets). Reward your child for participating, even if they are saying the word incorrectly. If they are trying their best, but the sound is still coming out incorrectly, reward their effort by saying things like “I love how hard you’re trying!” “Keep up the good work!” If their sound comes out correctly, celebrate with them! This is all about making practicing speech fun and rewarding hard work.
Make it fun! Speech therapists are masters of making something not fun, fun. Embed speech practice into games. Play a turn based game (Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Jenga) and have your child say their speech words in between each turn. Play outside on the swings or slide and practice words before they get a push or get to go down the slide. Get creative with this one and follow your childs’ interests.
Limit time spent to 5-15 minutes. Even a small amount of time spent directly practicing speech sounds can greatly benefit your child if it is done frequently (several times a week, or better yet, daily). Reducing the duration of practice will likely help in cases where a child’s attention span may be limited.
Work for a treat! Find something that motivates your child. A sweet treat, TV time, video game time…every child is motivated by something. Then tell your child that they are going to be working for ….X. If they do good speech practice (i.e. trying their words with good focus), they get X. If not, follow through with your direction, and do not give X, if they do not participate. Treats are motivating for everyone! If you choose a snack, you can even provide a piece of snack in between every 3-5 words.
We hope these tips and tricks work for you and your family. Happy practicing!