pronouncing clear words

Stephanie - posted on 04/22/2009

Yes!!!!!!!!! My daughter is very intelligent, doing well in preschool, but even my husband has a hard time understanding her. I am a stay at home mom so granted i do understand her best because i am around her most, but it does get difficult. Her teacher has come to understand her, and my daughter has improved with preschool, but it's still hard (even for me once in a while). I plan on seeing how she is doing next year (mid preschool year) and then asking for a speech therapist if neccesary. You are absolutely right, my daughter has an excellent vocab too, if you can understand her. But that does not take away from their intelligence! My daughter has become a master in re phrasing what she is trying to say, poor thing! Keep in touch and let me know any helpful hints you come across!!!

Sara - posted on 04/21/2009

Perian.... would that explain why my son snores?

Perian - posted on 04/21/2009

Hi there girls, My son Phoenix is nearly 4 and after he had his tonsils and adenoids out his speech is so much clearer. May be worth a check.

Sara - posted on 04/21/2009

hi there Michelle...



My boy Liam is nearly 4...

Just when he was in kindergarten a few wks, one of the teachers came up to me and wanted a talk about him. She said that he might have to go to some speech therapy if things with his pronouncation doesnt improve. I was very worried as i had been before she mentioned anything....

Now he has been in kindergarten almost one yr and everything has changed for the better.

Now he still says many words in a "baby-talk" way but he knows how to say the word the correct way. He seems to find it funny having his own little language.

I used to compare him with my best friends boy. They are the same age. Her boy Gabriel could say long sentences when he was nearly 2...

Now i have stopped comparing as i now realise that every child is unique and DIFFERENT!!!

We are bringing him up billingual... I am German, my boyfriend is English.

Katie - posted on 04/19/2009

Hi Michelle,

I don't think you have anything to worry about. I too have a June baby boy and he is my last of four and I must admit, I was concerned last summer about his speaking and pronunciation of his words. His name is Marcus and we (and friends) say that he speaks Markenese, his own language. However, I had to dig back in the old library of my head and remember what it was like with my three other children. The jump between age 4-5 is huge with speaking and letter sounds. I would not worry at all about your son. And from what other mothers are saying in this post, he is right in the same development stage. It sounds like all of our four year olds are right on target and developing nicely and remember they have one more year to working on letter sounds before Kindergarten.

Wendy - posted on 04/19/2009

I am an Australia so the health system is different, but I was able to access free speech therapy through our child health service and it just gives peace of mind before starting school. I had this done for my middle child (she will be 5 in August) not the june '05 one, because my almost 4 year has brilliant speech, but the older one struggled with a few sounds. Speech therapy was excellent, and her speech was a lot better than some of the other children in the group but at least when she starts school, she will be starting with an even playing field. You don't want to make things any more difficult for your child, giving them the best start is important, so if you can access it, just get your child checked out, it doesn't hurt!

Diane - posted on 04/09/2009

my son is also like that he has a harf time pronouncing is little sisters name. i can understand him but when people that do not know him have a hard time. From what i am told they will more than likely grow out of it. He is getting better with it. Just keep working with words that start with those letters and it will get better. I hope this works.

Shannon - posted on 04/08/2009

I have worked with many children with sound errors (or difficulty pronouncing certain letters). It never hurt to see a speech pathologist. They will play games and do activities with your child to see if there is any concern. And if it is only mild they will give you things you can do at home to help your child. If they need further help, they can set that up also. It is never a bad idea. It is also better to get checked out before school cause like someone said it is harder if they become frustrated. There is enough change and new things to learn in school never mind trying to make your thoughts and feelings known. Speech has nothing to do with intelligence. Many very smart kids have some small speech problems which can be easy to correct with a little extra help.

Michelle - posted on 04/08/2009

Hi Emily

That's interesting how your little one says "wuv". Jake can say l but not v so it sounds more like lub! It must be normal for their age but i'd feel better seeing our health visitor just for peace of mind :)

Michelle - posted on 04/08/2009

It's so reassuring to know he's not the only one because I worry about it constantly! maybe boys really do speak slower than girls. I don't want this to hold him back because he completely understands everything and he's only ever been used to being praised and when i try to correct him he gets frustrated and just says "mom just forget about it" so i don't want to draw to much attention to it and make him feel silly, but then he'll feel even worse if he's misunderstood at school. He can write his name, as well as mommy daddy nanny and tom (his brother) and can read some words and recognise letters. He'll say the alphabet in his way so it's a shame that his abilities won't be clear to someone who's never met him before (like a teacher). He's more than ready for school because he just loves to learn but other children can be cruel and because he'll be one of the youngest in his year i just hope he fits in!

Emily - posted on 04/08/2009

Wow, I am SOO glad to see this topic posted!  I have been struggling with this with my little guy too!  His "problem syllables" are L's and W's....for instance if he says love, it sounds like wuv....I try and show him how to annuciate it, and he will look at me and try, and then say "Mommy, that's too hard for me" or "mom, that's a little tricky for me".  I haven't decided whether or not it is a concern or issue big enough for us to see a speech language pathologist...do you think its a normal/semi normal thing for them to go through?  or is it a bigger deal than I am making it?

Jennifer - posted on 04/08/2009

Hi Michelle,

I have the same problem with my nearly 4 year old (4 in June), he cannot pronounce fs either or a lot of other words, it can be hard to understand him, he has been going to speech therapy, Im keeping him from big school till hes 5, Im not too worried he has huge vocabulary, just needs a helping hand.

Jen