How do I go about teaching my six year old son how to hear and say his R's?

Question

He is six and a half and still says his R's like W's. I am working by having him say the r sound everyday for maybe five minutes. I am not sure if am going about this the right way or not working on it long enough. Please, I need guidance on what to do and where I should look for answers.

Answer 1

Have him find things that start with the letter R or have the letter R sound.When he does reward him.And pray with him, and ask the Lord to help him with this work.That way he will learn more that just how to pronounce his R's.

Answer 2

Maybe a speech therapist... but I would suggest having him say words with the r in them; in the middle, the beginning, or the end.

Here are some R riddles; have him speak them clearly and slowly until he can say them fast; we use these in theatre to help up ununciate onstage:

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ONES:1. "Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascals ran."

2. "Rubber baby buggy bumpers, Rubber baby buggy bumpers."

THIS IS THE OTHER GOOD ONE:3. "This wristwatch is a Swiss wristwatch."

4. "Three witches wished a wish, swished a broom, and broiled a fish."

KEEP IN MIND: I am a theatre geek, not a speech therapist. Consult one of them first. And, the little guy may be getting frustrated with saying all these R's; I know ou are trying to help, but try to make it fun.

Answer 3

Can he say "er"? If he can, have him say "er" before he tries a word with r at the beginning of the word. "errrrrrabbit"

If he can't, try playing around saying w and r so you can 'see' for yourself what your tongue is doing when you say r. Play little games with him so he learns to move his tongue the right way. Then have him vocalize it.

In the end, a LOT of 6yo's still say w instead of r. If he's still not saying by age 8, definitely look into a speech therapist.

Answer 4

If you talk to his pediatrician he/she should be able to recomend a good speach therapist, or possibly give you suggestions.

I've seen this among a lot of youngsters. Sometimes saying the sound wont be enough. He will need to make it a habit to actually use the sound in words. Try giving him tongue twisters to say that use a lot of Rs. "red rover roll over" or "robby and ruby ran a race" or read books with him and whenever a word with an R comes up, say it first and then have him say it.

Also sometimes it might not have to do with whether or not he is hearing the Rs. It could be under developed muscles in the tongue or mouth. Again, a speach pathologist would be the best person to go to to determine if this is the case, and the best person to suggest ways to help correct it, but some things I've seen done were simple and even fun exercises like making faces, blowing whistles/kazoos, or l*****g lollypops or ice pops to get the tongue and mouth muscles moving in all different ways.

But if this continues for too long you definitely should talk to his pediatricion or a specialist in this field. It's important to correct it while he's too young before it becomes a harder habit to break.

Answer 5

Well, my son saw a speech therapist for other speech issues, and when she said he no longer needed to come I asked about the "r" sound, because it was still sounding like "w".  She said it really wasn't a cause for concern unless he was still doing it at 8.

When he reached 7 he out grew it.

However, if you want a few things you can do at home... go to http://www.mailordercentral.com/sycamore...  they have a book  titled "Help Me Talk Right".  They have one for lisps, one for Rs, and another one that I don't remember right now.

Answer 6

My young fella wanted to be a truck driver for his first few years or if he heard one, he'd always, with such excitement a big eyes wanting me to came and see the big truck,

But his T's were F's at that time and as the wanting to be a truck driver passed, so did his T become correct.

Smile.

With your son, at 6, I think it is just a lazy tongue,or perhaps habit. So would teach him intensively his 'R'

especially something that weans alot to him,

'Like I (w) Ran home and I Ran for my school...

And I like to (or don't) (w) Rite stories at school, for my TeacheRRR, etc

Coming ready or not RRReady could be a game to play and incorporate in games such as this and Snakes and Laderrrs, - Oh no, where has mommy have to go down?

The laddeRRR, but make the games fun even if he does balls up,

h**l eventually get his tongue around it, don't worry, and have fun helping him to learn.

Even make your own game out of it and tell him, "Your the cutest, but what are we going to try to say now.

If you are worried, yes book him into a speech therapist, but personally I think it'll all work out good.