Speech therapy exercises. Speech therapy classes and tongue twisters

Correct and beautiful speech is the key to success in any endeavor. Listen to your child's conversation and think about whether your speech can become an example for others to follow. If you notice deviations from the norm, you need to contact a speech therapist or try to correct the abnormal sounds yourself. For successful training, many effective methods and universal techniques have been developed that help you quickly achieve the desired result.

1. 1. Start lessons with simple sounds, move on to complex ones gradually (“k”, “g”, “x”, “th”, “l”, “r”).
2. 2. Before starting work, do a speech therapy warm-up for your lips and tongue.
3. 3. Organize activities so that the child enjoys them.
4. 4. Take exercises for making sounds from a speech therapy manual.

Perseverance and patience plus consistent implementation of methodological recommendations will allow you to achieve success in the shortest possible time.

For speech development

Articulation gymnastics - speech therapy warm-up - speech exercises - a set of exercises that improve the mobility of the articulatory apparatus. Gymnastics helps make speech clear; the child should not feel forced.

Repeat the exercises at every opportunity, while training your breathing. Organize breathing exercises in a playful style. Several popular exercises will appeal to your baby and will be extremely useful.

1. 1. “Blow a soap bubble.” You can play in the bathroom, blowing soap bubbles between your palms, or on the street. For this lesson, prepare a soapy solution of shampoo and water.
2. 2. “Blow off the dandelion” (if the dandelion season has not yet arrived, you can blow off fluff or cotton wool from a notebook sheet).
3. 3. “Whose boat will sail further?” Make boats out of paper and put them in a bowl of water. Blow on the boats, competing to see whose can float farthest. Do the exercise for no more than 7 seconds to prevent your child from getting dizzy.
4. 4. “Cheerful Monkey.” Puff out your cheeks and pull your ears, show and hide your tongue, grimace in front of the mirror. Make a serious face and then show the monkey again.
5. 5. “Inflating balloons.” Inflate colorful balloons with your child and place them on the table, then blow them off the table.
6. 6. “Like a snake hisses.” Invite your child to show how a small snake hisses (quietly). How a large snake hisses (medium strength) and a huge one (very strong hiss).

Working on the sound "r"

After warming up, start making sounds. The most problematic sound is the “r” sound; it is trained with special exercises.

1. 1. “Whose teeth shine better”:

• open your mouth and move the tip of your tongue over your teeth from the inside, like brushing;
• show clean teeth in a smile.

Important! There is a smile on the lips, the teeth are visible, the jaw is motionless.

1. 2. “We will paint the house”:

• stretch your lips in a wide smile, open your mouth and lick the palate with the thin tip of your tongue;
• move your tongue back and forth, like a painter’s brush painting a house.

Important! The lips are motionless, the tongue touches the outside of the teeth.

1. 3. “Who will throw the ball further”:

• stretch your lips in a smile;
• stick out your tongue and place its wide front edge on your lower lip. At the same time, pronounce the sound “f” for so long that you can blow the cotton wool onto the opposite edge of the table.

Important! Do not puff out your cheeks, make sure that the child pronounces the sound “f”.

1. 4. “Delicious jam.”

Open your mouth a little and move your tongue across your lips, as if you were licking jam. You can drop a drop of honey or jam on the child’s lips.

Important! Hold the lower jaw with your finger, if it tries to help the tongue, the tongue does not touch the corners of the mouth.

1. 5. "Bird":

• open your mouth, place a wide tongue on your upper lip and move it back and forth along the lip;
• at the same time, without lifting your tongue from your lips, perform stroking movements;
• do the exercise slowly at first, then increase the pace and pronounce bl-bl-bl like a dove.

Important! The tongue licks the lip well, does not fall forward or go to the side.

1. 6. "Musicians":

• open your mouth in a smile, drum the edge of your tongue on the upper alveoli and try to say a sound similar to English D;
• The exercise resembles a drum roll, increase the speed each time.

Important! The tongue strike is clear, like a drum roll, no extraneous sounds except D are heard. When performing the exercise, a strong air stream is formed, the mouth does not close. When performed correctly, a piece of paper brought to the mouth is rejected.

Setting the sound "ts"

The most effective are 2 methods of working on the pronunciation of the sound “ts”.

1. 1. Game form:

• put your finger to your lips and tell the child, “Don't talk so loud. Quiet!" - t-sss; The cat is sleeping on the roof t-sss. Don't wake him up, otherwise he'll eat the mice shhh. Everything around is quiet shhh. Mice, don't make noise shhh;
• the train stops shhh. Don't make noise passengers shhh. Don't rush out shhh. Don't talk so loud shhh.

1. 2. From the delivered sounds.

Bring your child's hand to your lips and pronounce the sound ts. He should feel one touch of the air stream. Now bring his hand to his lips and ask him to make the sound “ts”. He will feel two touches of the air stream. This happens when a sound is pronounced incorrectly. Explain to your child that there should be only one stream of air. Repeat the exercise until the child gets tired.

For the sound "l"

• "Train whistle." Show your tongue and at the same time say - oooh. The train is moving ooooo. Loud, clear ooooh.
• "Clean tongue." Press your tongue between your teeth as if trying to brush. Perform up and down movements. The exercise is like a painter painting a house.
• “Let's play with the horse” (the sound of hooves clattering). A cheerful horse runs, and its hooves sing clop-clop-clop. Run around with your child pretending to be a horse.
• "The tongue is singing." Biting your tongue a little, sing lek-lek-lek. Be silent and lek-lek-lek again. Do two or three approaches.

When stuttering

When working with stuttering, it is important to form smooth speech, develop speech breathing, and perform many exercises in a playful way in conditions that are comfortable for the child.

1. 1. “Merry carousels”. Walk in a circle and say at every step: “We are a funny carousel opa-opa-opa-pa-pa, tatati-tati-tata.”
2. 2. "Funny Chickens." Jump on the right and left legs alternately with the words: “Clap-clap-clap! Oof-iv-af! Up-tap-tap! Tap-tip-rap-rap-tip-tap!”
3. 3. “Let’s play conductor.” Wave your arms rhythmically; the child should chant any words, syllables or vowels.
4. 4. Clap your hands for each vowel sound. If successful, add foot stomping. If your child can’t clap and stomp at the same time, practice one at a time, then combine. It is important that the child enjoys the exercise, feels comfortable, is not afraid or embarrassed.
5. 5. Invite the child to read a short children’s poem accompanied by any calm music, making sure that the rhythm is maintained. If you successfully read a short poem, choose more complex and longer ones. Offer to recite a familiar poem to the beat of music, a classical or modern melody without words.

For adults

Before starting lessons with your child, pay attention to your speech; if you do not pronounce some sounds clearly enough, practice them with tongue twisters. Sequence of classes:

• read the tongue twister several times;
• try to pronounce, slowly pronouncing all the sounds;
• do not speed up the pace until it is clear and precise;
• Once you achieve positive results, speed up the pace. The main thing is the accurate reproduction of sounds, not speed;
• Say small tongue twisters in one breath, maintain tempo and rhythm.

For clarity of pronunciation

Say clearly and clearly: grass, firewood, bed, river, cancer, fire, bow, knock, bunch, nail, eagle, goat, came, left, came, karateka, pianist, fascist, foreign tourist, eyebrow, carrot, blizzard, carousel , water, game, reached, sole, regiment, mug, girlfriend, plate, squirrel, bed, stand, write, fly, jump, bird.

These words help identify problematic sounds.

Take any poem or text and read it with intonation, clearly pronouncing the sounds. Watch the position of the lower jaw and lips.

There are no fundamental differences when working with children and adults; the techniques and exercises are the same. Check the correctness of the exercises in the mirror.

After a stroke

Speech therapy exercises will help restore speech after a stroke if performed systematically. Repeat each exercise 15-20 times.

1. 1. "Horse". Move your tongue in your mouth to imitate the clicking sound of a horse.
2. 2. "Poisonous snake." Stick your tongue out as far as possible and hiss like a snake.
3. 3. "Wall". Make a grin so that your front teeth are visible. Performs without sound.
4. 4. “The Good Wizard.” Smile without showing your teeth.
5. 5. "Pipe". Show the tip of your tongue, curled into a tube, and blow into it as hard as possible.
6. 6. "Loudspeaker". Make your lips a tube, place your palm on your lips and blow loudly.
7. 7. "Bagel" Curl your lips and sing O-O-O-O-O-O-O.
8. 8. "Pendulum". Stick out your tongue and move it up and down like a pendulum.
9. 9. “Nice palm.” Kiss the palm, smacking loudly (like an air kiss). When performing the exercise, fold your lips into a tube with tension.
10. 10. “Elephant trunk.” Stick out your tongue and try to reach first your nose, then your chin, do not help with your lips.

Regular exercise will help a patient after a stroke restore speech and return to full communication.

Speech therapy classes for children and adults train the articulatory apparatus, increase the clarity of pronunciation, and form correct speech. When making sounds, it is important to perform breathing exercises.

Summary of the lesson in the speech therapy group “Automation of the sound Ш in words and sentences (based on the Russian folk tale “Masha and the Bear”)

Progress of the lesson

Speech therapist:
We will try to tell the truth beautifully.
Children(one by one):

Once - two girlfriends whispered.
Two - a cuckoo at the edge.
Three - I carry toys into the hut.
At four, I wash my ears.
Five - they bought Dasha checkers.
Six - eat millet porridge.
Seven - there are two potatoes in the basket.
Eight - crumbs on the palm.
Nine - we darn the shoe.
Ten - we keep our step wider.

Speech therapist:
Well done. Sit down comfortably, let's tell the fairy tale “Masha and the Bear” together. In one village, in a log hut with a grandfather and grandmother, there lived a granddaughter...
Children: Mashenka.
(On the magnetic board there are pictures: hut, Mashenka)

Articulation gymnastics

In the morning Mashenka woke up and smiled (“smile”).
She played the pipe, then smiled again (“smile” - “pipe”).
Masha went to breakfast and took a spoon (“spoon”).
I took a cup (“cup”).
She took out some delicious jam (“tasty jam”).
Mashenka had breakfast and went to swing on the swing (“swing”).
And then Mashenka played ball (“rolling the ball”).

Finger gymnastics

The sun is sending from the sky (rhythmically cross your arms above your head)
Ray, ray, ray.
And he boldly accelerates them (smoothly shake hands)
Clouds, clouds, clouds.
Gently warms in summer (rhythmically rub your cheeks)
Cheeks, cheeks, cheeks.
And in the spring he puts it on the nose (rhythmically tap on the nose)
Dots, dots, dots.
Children's freckles turn golden,
They really like it (place index fingers in the corners of their lips).

Every loving mother wants her baby to quickly be able to pronounce sounds correctly and speak coherently. To develop a child’s speech, it is very important to constantly have conversations with him and pronounce words without distortion. However, this is not enough for the development of the child’s articulatory apparatus.

With language exercises, parents will help the baby quickly learn to pronounce sounds and words correctly. Regular and short-term classes will give the child an advantage over their peers, and give adults another reason for joy and pride.

Speech therapy gymnastics allows you to:

• get rid of sluggish speech (the so-called “porridge in the mouth”);
• improve blood supply to the tongue;
• develop the baby’s speech apparatus not by months, but by days;
• identify physiological disorders at an early stage;
• save the child from ridicule from peers due to speech impediments.

Using tongue exercises, you can achieve correct pronunciation of individual sounds and their groups. To start sessions, it is not at all necessary to demand unusual perseverance from the child and force him to see a specialist. Even a couple of minutes of proper “antics” a day can bear fruit. While changing clothes, snort, click and purse your lips together with your baby. On the one hand, he will have fun doing routine things. On the other hand, such innocent pranks will help develop his speech apparatus.

Basic rules of tongue gymnastics

Like any set of exercises, speech gymnastics brings results only if it is correct and regular.

To develop the articulation ability of children, you should follow the following rules:

• Classes should last no more than 10 minutes, as the baby gets tired quickly. It is difficult for him to concentrate on something for a long time, so parents need to be patient and undemanding.
• Let your child monitor the position of his tongue using a mirror.
• Turn your classes into another fun gaming activity. Do not focus on the importance of speech gymnastics, do not bore your child with boring explanations and do not force him to hold his tongue in one position for more than 10 seconds.
• Choose a calm pace for your activities. You shouldn’t rush your baby, but at the same time, don’t let your child be lazy.
• Make sure you perform tongue exercises accurately so that classes do not turn into meaningless antics in front of the mirror.

If exercises for the development of the speech apparatus are given to the baby with great effort, then do not be zealous, but contact a speech therapist.

Types of articulation gymnastics

From an early age, parents should pay attention to the development of the child’s speech, namely, performing articulatory gymnastics. Speech therapy training can be static or dynamic. The first group of classes assumes that the tongue “freezes” in one position. When performing dynamic exercises, all organs of the speech apparatus are involved. Only regular and correct repetition of articulation gymnastics for children will have an effect.

Static exercises:

• “Chick” - the child opens his mouth wide, like a chick whose mother will put a treat there. The tongue lies in a relaxed position in the oral cavity.
• “Spatula” - the baby opens his mouth wide and places his tongue on the lower lip in a relaxed state. It is important to ensure that there is no tension in the child’s actions when performing this exercise.
• “Cup” - the baby opens his mouth wide and lifts the side edges of the tongue so that they do not touch the teeth.
• “Tube” - the child closes his lips and stretches them as far as possible in front of him.
• “Mushroom” - the little student places his tongue against the roof of his mouth and opens his mouth as wide as possible.
• “Slide” - the baby opens his mouth wide. The tip of the tongue should rest against the lower incisors.

When performing static exercises, it is important not only to fix the organ of the speech apparatus in the correct position. The occupied position must be held for 5-10 seconds. Performing dynamic exercises is accompanied by counting. An adult must ensure that the baby changes the position of the tongue and other speech organs in a timely manner and copes with tasks without difficulties.

• “Clock” - the child opens his mouth slightly and shows his smile, and then makes his tongue narrow and tries to reach the corner of his mouth with its tip.
• “Swing” - the baby opens his mouth and stretches his tongue to his chin and nose.
• “Candy” - the child closes his lips and alternately sticks his tongue into the left and right cheek. From the outside it should look like he is hiding a lollipop. Be sure to show your child the correct tongue position.
• “Horse” - the baby places his tongue against the roof of his mouth, clicking loudly and distinctly.
• “Painter” - the child opens his mouth wide and with the wide tip of his tongue, like a brush, moves from left to right from the upper incisors to the soft palate.

Adults can perform these simple exercises with their little ones anywhere, even without the help of a speech therapist. But if some task causes difficulties for the child, then you should not refuse to consult a specialist.

Articulation exercises will be interesting for children who have just turned 2 years old, kindergarteners aged 4, and preschoolers aged 5.

Language gymnastics: interesting and fun

Parents should turn speech development training into an exciting game. Feel free to get creative. For example, promise that you will treat your baby with a candy if he shows how it can be hidden behind his cheek. Cover your baby's nose with chocolate or jam and ask him to lick the treat with his tongue. Promise to play your favorite game with your child after the “antics.”

Use a spatula to help your baby take the desired tongue position. When performing the task for the first time, there may be tension, but after several repetitions the child’s actions will be meaningful and easy. Don't forget to do both static and dynamic exercises. They give the desired effect only in combination.

If, after regularly completing tasks, you still notice weaknesses in your child’s speech, consult a speech therapist.

Complex of articulatory gymnastics for cheeks and lips

To develop speech, you need not only to train your language. To increase letter coverage, it is important to pay extra attention to the lips and cheeks. Basic articulation gymnastics exercises:

• The baby bites, pats and rubs his cheeks as if they had just been beaten by frost.
• "Fed hamster." The child puffs out his cheeks and then releases the air from them. When performing this exercise does not cause any particular problems, it is worth complicating it. Ask your baby to puff out his cheeks one at a time.
• "Shrimp". Invite your baby to forcefully suck in his cheeks. Don't forget to show an example.
• "Blown Ball." The baby puffs out his cheeks, and then lightly pats them with his palms to release the air noisily.

To develop the articulatory apparatus, parents need to constantly work with their child. The above exercises can occupy your baby’s attention when you are standing in line to see a therapist, riding on public transport, or going home from preschool. While walking, ask your child to repeat the sounds he hears: a song on a bell, the sound of a passing motorcycle, a dog barking, and so on. If short-term speech therapy exercises are performed regularly, your treasure will quickly learn coherent and meaningful speech. Show all exercises by your own example and do not scold your child at the moment of failure, so as not to discourage them from following your instructions. If you start studying with a two-year-old child, then by the age of 4 he will be able to clearly and clearly recite all the poems at matinees.

The ability to speak is a magnificent skill bestowed upon man. In order for your child to pronounce words clearly, you need to make an effort and spare no time in developing competent speech. The support and attention of parents is something without which harmonious personal development is simply impossible. Patient mentoring and regular repetition of exercises to train the tongue and the entire articulatory apparatus will allow the baby to please his parents with his successes.

From an early age, a child, with the help of an adult, can complete speech training tasks. At the same time, it is very important to observe the “golden mean”: take the exercises seriously, but, at the same time, do not demand the impossible from the baby.

1. "Smile"

Keep your lips stretched out in a smile. The teeth are not visible.

2. "Fence"

Smile (teeth visible). Keep your lips in this position.

3. "Chick"

4. “Let’s punish the naughty tongue”

Open your mouth slightly, put your tongue on your lower lip and, smacking it with your lips, say “five-five-five...”.

5. "Spatula"

Place a wide, relaxed tongue on your lower lip.

6. "Tube"

Open your mouth, stick out your wide tongue and bend its side edges up.

7. "Let's lick our lips"

Open your mouth. Slowly, without lifting your tongue, lick first the upper, then the lower lip in a circle.

8. "Let's brush our teeth"

“Brush” the lower teeth from the inside with the tip of your tongue (from left to right, from top to bottom). The lower jaw is motionless.

9. "Watch"

Stretch your lips into a smile. Open your mouth slightly. Using the tip of your narrow tongue, alternately touch the corners of your mouth.

10. "Snake"

Open your mouth. Push the narrow tongue forward and put it back into the mouth. Do not touch lips and teeth.

11. "Nut"

Close your mouth, press your tense tongue against one cheek, then the other.

12. "Put the ball into the goal"

Place your wide tongue on your lower lip and smoothly, with an F sound, blow out a cotton ball lying on the table between two cubes. The cheeks should not puff out.

13. "Pussy is angry"

Open your mouth. Place the tip of your tongue against your lower teeth. Lift your tongue up. The back of the tongue should be arched, like a cat's back when she is angry.

When a four-year-old toddler cannot pronounce individual letters, has a lisp or distorts words, this causes concern among parents, especially if in the immediate environment there are examples of peers with almost impeccable speech. What speech defects for 4-year-old children are considered normal, and when to talk about them, and what to do to eliminate this gap will be discussed in this article.

Features of the speech apparatus at 4 years old

A child at the age of four already has sufficient command of such an instrument as speech and knows how to use it to communicate with the outside world. The little person no longer just pronounces words and puts them into sentences, but uses words to express his own thoughts and draw independent conclusions from information received from outside.

The social circle of children in this age group is also expanding significantly. The child no longer has enough communication with his parents and loved ones; he wants contact with the world in the person of various strangers, and the child not only willingly makes such contact, but also initiates it.
The word “why” most often rolls off the tongue of parents in relation to a child during this period of his life. Experts believe that the more questions a “why” asks, the better mental development he demonstrates. The fact that after asking a question, your child often loses interest in the answer without listening to it to the end is also the norm; the little person has not yet learned to concentrate, and parents need to try to formulate answers simply and clearly.

Did you know? If it seems to you that your baby only becomes silent when he falls asleep, don’t be surprised: this is how it should be. At this age, the norm for a child is an almost continuous speech stream throughout the entire waking time.

The vocabulary of a four-year-old child is rich enough to communicate, but still too poor to, for example, retell to his grandmother a fairy tale told by his mother the day before or to describe in detail the events of the past day. On the other hand, thanks to excellent memory, a child can repeat a rhyme or the same fairy tale, if it is short, word for word, even without fully understanding the meaning of individual words and phrases.

Already understanding that all objects and actions around have their own names, the baby can independently replace an unknown name with a collective name, for example, calling a violet a flower, and a herring a fish.
In addition to nouns and verbs, the little man already uses more complex parts of speech in conversation - pronouns, adverbs, interjections, conjunctions and prepositions. Inconsistency of cases and errors in the use of such functional parts of speech are completely normal at this age.

To simple questions, the baby no longer gives monosyllabic, but rather detailed answers.

By the age of four, a child’s vocabulary reaches an average of two thousand words.

Further, this age is characterized by very rapid improvement of speech, it improves right before our eyes, the baby begins to try to speak competently, imitating adults (of course, it does not work out right away, but the attempts are obvious).

It is normal if, intuitively sensing the presence of complex words in the language (airplane, steamship, etc.), the baby begins to invent his own new words in the same way.

In some cases, the toddler even tries to explore rhymes and compose simple poems.
However, the speech apparatus at this age is still far from perfect. It is not a deviation from the norm if the baby:

• confuses cases, agreement of gender and number (opened the “door”, the cat “ran through”, etc.);
• rearranges or skips syllables or sounds in complex words;
• does not pronounce whistling, hissing and sonorant sounds: hissing sounds are replaced by whistling ones (“ezik” instead of “hedgehog”, “syum” instead of “noise”) and vice versa (“zhayats” instead of “hare”, “sheledka” instead of “herring”), and sonorant “l” and “r” are replaced by “l” and “y”, respectively (“yiba” instead of “fish”, “swallow” instead of “swallow”).

In addition, the child already knows how to regulate the volume of speech depending on specific circumstances (speak more quietly at home, and louder on a noisy street). Speech begins to acquire intonations.

Another feature of this age is that the baby begins to notice speech errors in other children.

Basic characteristics of a child’s speech at 4 years old

All of the above is considered the norm, rather conditionally. All children are individual both in mental abilities and in temperament, some develop faster, others slower, and to say that Olya knows two thousand words and writes poetry, and Vasya only a thousand and is confused in simple sentences, therefore, is mentally retarded , completely wrong.

Did you know? The concept of norm for boys and girls is also very different: in terms of speech, four-year-old girls are ahead of their male peers by an average of 4 months, which is a lot for that age!

In addition, constant communication with loved ones for 4-year-old children is the best activity for speech development, therefore, a child growing up in a loving and attentive family has an objectively better developed speech apparatus and vocabulary than a child who is not needed by anyone.

However, there are objective indicators that indicate that something is wrong with a child’s speech.

Tests to determine pathologies

Self-test your child by asking him to complete the following tasks:(not necessarily right away, otherwise the baby will lose interest in the “game” and stop trying, and the test result will be unreliable):

• pronounce your last name, first name and patronymic without prompting;
• list the names of parents, family members, close friends and other people in your immediate circle of constant communication;
• describe some interesting situation or adventure (wait for the right opportunity and choose the moment when something happened to the baby that should have impressed him);
• recognize a loved one in a group photo or in a photo of him in his youth (pattern recognition test);
• divide into groups a certain set of edible and inedible items, clothing, dishes, etc.), and after completing the task, justify your choice;
• describe the signs of a particular object (sharp needle, sour apple, sweet strawberry, dark night, cold winter);
• name the action being performed in the picture or in the proposed situation (the girl is crying, the boy is playing around, the cat is running away);
• repeat what you heard verbatim;
• retell what you saw or heard (fairy tale, cartoon);
• speak loudly first, then quietly.

Important! The presence of errors when performing a task does not indicate speech impairment. If the mistakes are minor, and the child is able to correct them after it is explained to him what the mistake was, there is no reason to worry.

• the baby's speech is obviously too fast or too slow, so much so that it seems that the child is doing it on purpose;
• the “speaker” speaks as if he had porridge in his mouth, it is impossible to understand him even to close people;
• the child communicates in separate words, without putting them into sentences in accordance with the rules of grammar;
• the baby does not perceive what he is told (do not confuse it with whims and unwillingness to comply with requirements);
• “swallowing” of word endings is constantly present;
• “one’s own opinion” is not visible in the speech; it consists entirely of phrases heard somewhere;
• the child's mouth is constantly slightly open, even if he is silent, and there is so much saliva that it splashes during a conversation or hangs from the lips at rest.

Causes of speech disorders

There can be many reasons for speech disorders. Some of them are signs of a serious illness, while others simply indicate a lack of attention to the baby. In particular, there are factors that can affect children's speech:

1. Hereditary factor (genetic abnormalities).
2. Intrauterine or birth.
3. Consequences of the disease.
4. Unfavorable family environment.

The second group of reasons is a number of diseases and other harmful factors that a woman could encounter during and (stress, infectious diseases, adoption, attempt, trauma, alcohol, intrauterine fetal hypoxia, hazardous production, birth asphyxia, etc.) .

Speech problems can also be caused by problems that befall the baby himself in the first years of his life. This is especially true for infectious diseases, head and palate injuries.
We will not talk separately about the unfavorable situation in the family; everything is clear here.

How to identify a speech disorder

Speech disorders in a child can manifest themselves in different ways. In the age group we are interested in, they are usually classified as follows:

• phonation(there is no intonation, it is impossible to adjust the volume of speech, etc.);
• structural-semantic(general problems with speech up to its complete absence);
• phonetic(pronunciation and perception defects), etc.

Did you know? Humanity has known about speech problems for a long time. As follows from the Old Testament, even the prophet Moses had them. According to legend, the pharaoh wanted to kill little Moses because the baby allowed himself to play with the crown, which the priests saw as a bad omen. On the advice of another priest, who stood up for the future prophet, the baby had to be shown gold and burning coals: if the baby chooses gold, he will die, if coals, he will live. Moved by the hand of the guardian angel, the child reached for the coal and brought it to his lips. Because of this, the prophet’s speech subsequently remained unclear.

But sometimes, in order to understand what exactly causes speech problems, the child sometimes needs to be comprehensively examined. For this purpose, the pediatrician and speech therapist can involve specialized specialists, in particular:

• neurologist;
• otolaryngologist;
• psychiatrist;
• psychologist;
• audiologist.

• magnetic resonance imaging;
• encephalogram;
• Ultrasound of the brain (echoencephalography).

If overall everything is fine with the baby, his treatment will simply consist of performing special tongue exercises intended for children 4 years old, taking into account the individual characteristics of a particular little patient.

Structure of speech therapy classes at home

Aimed at eliminating speech defects, it must be carried out methodically, systematically, only in this case can one count on a good result.

Psychological aspect of working with a child

First of all, parents should not forget about the age of the child. You need to do everything to make the classes turn into a fun game. This time should also be used to communicate with the baby, in this way you will “kill two birds with one stone” and get a synergistic effect (properly performed exercises and parents’ attention together will enhance each other’s effects).

Gymnastics for fingers

It would seem, what is the connection between fingers and tongue? It turns out that it is the most direct. The entire centuries-old experience of speech therapy (and this science has its roots in antiquity) indicates that the development of fine motor skills and speech are directly dependent. That is why speech therapy classes for children 4 years old always include finger exercises, and when developing a child’s speech at home, this block should not be forgotten.

Gymnastics for fingers for such young children it is carried out not in the form of physical education, but in the form of a game. The child is asked to “make” a hedgehog, a cat, a flower, a ball or a flag with his hands, show how a bird drinks water or flaps its wings, etc.

A specific set of finger games will be developed by a speech therapist; the parents’ task is to strictly implement them, devoting at least five minutes a day to the gaming development of fine motor skills.

Articulation gymnastics with pictures

The next type of exercise is articulatory gymnastics. Its task is to develop and strengthen the muscles of the tongue and lips so that they become strong, flexible and “obey” their owner well.

The peculiarity of these speech therapy classes for children 4 years old is that they are held in front of a mirror so that the child can see how his facial muscles work, what position his tongue is in, etc. For the first time, the speech therapist will show the baby’s parents how to perform the exercises correctly; in the future, this work will be done at home independently.

The regularity of gymnastics is daily. It is better to devote 5-7 minutes to this activity twice a day than to torment the child for a quarter of an hour straight and then leave him alone until tomorrow. Under the control of the parents, the baby licks his lips with his tongue, as if he had just enjoyed sweet jam, “cleanses” his teeth, but not with a brush, but with his tongue, uses it to pretend to be a swing, etc.

Development of phonemic hearing

A very important part of the lesson is the development of speech (or phonemic) hearing. Our task is to teach the baby to hear and recognize sounds.

Doing these types of exercises with children as young as 4 years old is a real pleasure. You can come up with a lot of speech therapy games, you can design the necessary attributes for this with your own hands, or you can involve your baby in such making, then at the same time he will develop fine motor skills, acquire useful skills and broaden his horizons.

1. Invite your child to listen to how certain objects “sound” (paper rustling, wooden spoons knocking, glass clinking against glass). Then the baby must recognize the same sounds, but with his eyes closed.
2. Find videos on the Internet where the voices of various animals or birds are heard. Show them to your child and again ask them to recognize the “beast” by their voice with their eyes closed.
3. In the same way, find a video or sound recording with various noises - the sea, a forest, a city street. Give them to your baby to listen to and ask him to recognize the source of each sound (car, motorcycle, train, wave, etc.).
4. Blindfold your child and move around the room with the bell, trying not to make any noise. The baby’s task is to accurately show with his finger exactly where the ringing is coming from.
5. Invite your child to imitate the sounds that various animals make. Pay the child’s attention not only to the appearance, but also to the age of the animal (perhaps a small kitten does not yet know how to say “meow”, he only squeaks plaintively and thinly, and cannot do it very loudly, because he is very tiny). For such a speech development activity, it is good to use special speech therapy pictures or toys in the form of animals - it will be much easier and more interesting for a 4-year-old child.

Fantasize, do not limit yourself to the exercises that the speech therapist came up with for your child, and then your child will perceive the classes as an interesting game and look forward to it!

Speech development

Speech, like muscles, needs to be developed. A child’s vocabulary should be constantly replenished, but how can this be done if the child performs the same routine actions all day long? Try to fill your baby's life with new impressions, and then his speech will be enriched by itself, without additional effort on your part.

Invite your child to write an interesting and exciting story on the topic: how I spent my summer (of course, this will only work if the child really has something to remember). Such speech therapy tasks for 4-year-old children are much more interesting and, importantly, more effective than methodical exercises in front of a mirror.
Learn poems and tongue twisters with your child, read fairy tales to him, tell him exciting stories and just communicate. Do not forget that at this age the baby’s vocabulary is divided into two parts: words that the baby uses during speech, and words that he does not yet repeat, but already understands. Try to use as many new words as possible in your stories and don’t be lazy in explaining their meaning. By developing your baby’s passive vocabulary, you will thereby, albeit more slowly, expand the active one.

Exercises for making the sound “r”

For children 4 years old who cannot pronounce individual letters, special exercises are used. For example, at this age, children very often fail to cope by simply skipping it or replacing it with “l”; difficulties also arise with hissing “sh”, “sch”. Speech therapy rhymes help cope with this very well. There are a huge variety of them, they are classified according to specific problem sounds, the most successful ones can be selected according to your taste on the Internet, without even resorting to the help of a speech therapist.

Important! The problem with the sound “r” is often of a physiological nature (insufficient development of the so-called “frenulum”, due to which the tongue does not reach the palate, and the baby objectively cannot “growl”). It is for this reason that children who cannot pronounce “r” are usually advised to show it to a specialist. For self-control, listen, perhaps your baby does not always “swallow” the letter “r”, but only in individual sounds, then, most likely, you just need to practice the skill.

1. The child should open his mouth and press his tongue to the base of his upper teeth. In this position, you need to pronounce the sound “d” several times in a row. Further the task becomes more complicated. All the same is accompanied by exhaling air and directing it to the tip of the tongue. The point is for the baby to remember the vibration that occurs when performing the exercise. It is she who is present when pronouncing the sound “r”.
2. We pronounce “zh” with our mouth wide open, gradually raising our tongue to the upper teeth. At this time, the adult carefully places a special spatula under the child’s tongue and makes sideways movements with it to create vibration. The child's task is to blow on his tongue.
3. The baby pulls his tongue back and says “for”, and the adult inserts a spatula under the tongue in the same way as in the previous exercise. If you perform the technique correctly, the sound will be “r”, and the child should remember this feeling.

Exercises for sizzling

Of all the hissing sounds, the easiest one to “agree on” is the sound “sh”; this is where the production usually begins. The baby is asked to say “sa”, slowly raising his tongue to the base of the upper teeth until a hiss is heard. Now, as the air is released from the lungs, the child adds “a” to pronounce “sha.” An adult should help transform “sa” into “sha”, using the same spatula. We remember the sensations and hone the skill.

We also start with a simple “s”. The performance involves a spatula, with which an adult places the tongue in the correct position.

To set the “ch,” we pronounce “t” with an exhalation, and the adult uses a spatula to push the tongue back.

Don’t forget about the mirror, and don’t get tired of showing your child the correct pronunciation technique.

Your baby really wants to complete the task so that you can be proud of him! Children are also natural imitators. Therefore, if a four-year-old child has speech disorders, but no other pathologies have been identified, the problem will be solved very quickly if you are patient and give your child a little attention and love.