As a Speech Pathologist I will post helpful information for parents.

Talking Tips To Help Your Child To Speak Clearly




Use your best listening skills! Really try to focus on what the child is telling you, not how it is said. It is ok to ignore the mistakes. To improve, your child needs practice! Thus, frequently correcting, teasing, laughing, may cause your child to speak less. It is important to keep your child confidant about his or her speaking skills.

Use your best speech (when talking with your child). Repeat your child's message correctly when they do make errors. (i.e. "wewe de gag" - "where's the dog? - he's outside"). Children learn by listening. They don't need to repeat it directly after you. Just provide a good model for them to hear and imitate. Speak slowly.

Your child may not say all sounds correctly at first, and that is okay! It can take up to 8 years for all children to speak correctly in a typically developing child. Thus, some errors are to be expected. See the developmental norms for speech development.

Let your child know when you don't understand them, don't just "pretend" to understand. Ask them to show you what they mean, or tell you again. Admit that you don't understand. If you understand part of it, let your child know. ("Oh, your talking about the dog", "what about him?")

Monitor for ear infections, and have them treated immediately. When a child gets an ear infection, they may get a temporary, partial hearing loss. This will cause them to not hear all sounds around them, and in speech, which is critical for good speech development (you have to hear it correctly to imitate it.)
Thus, if your child has an ear infection, speak clearly, in short and simple sentences. Make sure they are looking at you when you are speaking, and minimize background noise (such as TV or radio).


Speech Delay.com



Please contact your child’s speech teacher if you have questions.