Many kids have trouble saying the R sound. Our friend, who is a Speech Therapists, says that the R sound is among the last letter sound to be mastered. He advised us to keep practicing and eventually it will be self correcting. Correcting the R sound is possible and earlier the intervention, the quicker it will be corrected.
The R sound
The R sound comes in different combinations. The R sound changes depending on what letter is before or after it. Some of the common combinations AR, AIR, EAR, ER, IRE (commonly called the vocalic R or vowel R), RL and the consonant /R/. Notice how the R sounds differently in each combination. According to Sayitright.org, there can be a total or 32 unique R sounds.
No wonder the R sound is difficult to teach and learn. It is a common problem. The difficulty in pronouncing the R sound is referred to as Rhotacism. Some people goes to adulthood having this difficulty. But correcting the R sound is possible especially through early intervention.
Wabbit Season, Duck Season 😀
Correcting the R sound
We are correcting the R sound especially for the consonant R as the first letter of the word. Our son would say it as yibbon, yobot, yoad, and byash. If R is the last letter, he sounds bit slang like wateh, excavateh, and lateh.
Our friend shared the following tips in correcting the R sound. These tips are best for the correcting consonant /R/ sound.
Model the Correct Sound. Keep on saying the correct R sound whenever your child says the wrong one. In our case, we don’t say our son is saying the wrong R sound. We just say, there is a better R sound that he needs to practice.
Hand Gestures. The R sound is produced when the tongue is curled upward and slightly backward inside the mouth. Since it is difficult for the child to see, demonstrating the tongue movement using the hand is a good way to show how it is done.
Tongue Reach the Nose. We noticed that our son had difficulty curling his tongue. That is why he produces the Y sound instead of the R sound. To practice curling his tongue, we asked him to stick out his tongue and reach for the tip of his nose. He finds it fun and helped him produce his R sounds better. Not yet perfect, but it shows improvement.
Make animal sounds. This tip is my favorite since it is doesn’t seem like work. It’s fun! Animal sounds like a tiger for Grrrr…, cat for Purrrr…., rooster for Rrrr rrrrr rrrr…, and dog for Arrrf arrrf…
Compare the correct and incorrect sound. Your child will sometimes not recognize their own sound and won’t realize they are saying it incorrectly. Say to the child the word correctly and incorrectly so that they can recognize the correct way of saying it.
Making R sound from L sound. This is a great tip in correcting the R sound. Ask the child to make the L sound. While making the L sound, ask them to slide their tongue along the top of their mouth (hard palette). The L sound will turn into an R sound.
Making R sound from O sound. Ask the child t say the OO sound like look or book. Then ask them to move their tongue back and up slowly. The OO sound will turn to an OR sound.
Correcting the W. If the child is saying the W sound instead of the R sound, like wabbit, tell the child to smile. This will eliminate the W sound since you can’t make a W sound while smiling.
When to consult a Speech Therapist
Our friend says that our 4-year-old son is still developing the sounds he can make. Thus, there is no need to be alarmed. Just keep on practicing the tips in correcting the R sound.
However, if there is still difficulty in saying the R sound by the time the child is in Grade 1, or around 6-7 years old, the child might need to attend speech classes or see a Speech Therapist.
We really hope our son can perfect the R sound before he reaches 5 years old next year. There has been improvements already but we keep on reminding him as often as we can to make his R sound better.
Does your child also have difficulty in the R sound? Do you have tips to share in correcting the R sound it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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