| 4. Ignore Mistakes |
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When people laugh at pronunciation errors, your child feels angry and frustrated. Teasing hurts a child's feelings and never improves speech. Ask family members to be kind and ignore your child's mistakes. Don't imitate the child's "baby talk".
Use correct speech that your child can imitate.
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| 5. Model Good Speech |
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When your child makes errors, repeat the child's message correctly. But don't ask the child to repeat after you. Children learn by listening. They need to listen to good speech. For example, your child might say, "I tant' fit dis wid" for "I can't fix this lid".
You could repeat and model as follows: "You can't fix the lid? Maybe I can fix it". You are providing a model of correct speech for your child to hear and imitate. Speak clearly and slowly.
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| 6. Fight Ear Infections |
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Good hearing is necessary for the development of normal articulation. Ear infections can cause hearing losses. Children learn language by hearing it. If your child has even mild or temporary hearing losses during the preschool years,
speech and language development may be delayed.
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Tugging on the ears, congestion, runny nose, or turning up the TV volume are signs of a possible ear infection.
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Children do not always tell you when they have ear problems. Sometimes they don't even run a fever. When you suspect that your child has an ear infection or that your child's ears are "plugged", see your family physician.
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If you are concerned about your preschool child's speech or language development, call the Warmline.
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