Important Information

Speech sounds in children’s talking develop at different ages. Sounds such as ‘p’, ‘b’, ‘m’ sounds usually develop earlier in children’s talking. Sounds such as ‘ch’, ‘j’, ‘th’ and ‘r’ sounds are later to develop; some of these speech sounds are still normally developing up to the age of 8 years old.

As children start to learn how to talk, it is normal for them to change or miss out some speech sounds in their talking; these sounds will usually continue to develop over time.

If your child’s talking is unclear, repeat the words back to them so they can hear the correct sounds in the words, but don’t try to get your child to say the word correctly. For example, if your child says ‘bish’ instead of ‘fish’, your can say “Yes, there is a fish! The fish is swimming.”.

You can support your child’s awareness of the structures of words and the sounds in words through Sound Bombardment activities and Syllable Clapping activities.