Setting the sound P: stages of the lesson, exercises and practice

Features of articulation

The problem of incorrect sound pronunciation (if the child does not have other speech problems, for example, dysarthria) of sonorant sounds is the difficulty in their articulation. This is especially true for R, so speech therapists advise parents not to panic if their child does not “growl” at three years old. The articulatory apparatus must be prepared, which happens by the age of 4-5, so be sure to do articulatory gymnastics with your child.

When pronouncing P, the organs of the articulatory apparatus occupy the following position:

the mouth is open, the lips are in the position of the vowel sound following P;
the tongue should be wide, located behind the upper teeth and touching the alveoli, the lateral edges should be raised; it is shaped like a small ladle;
the soft palate is raised;
vocal cords vibrate.

In addition to the correct position of the organs of the articulatory apparatus, a strong air stream is needed, because when exhaling it is directed to the tip of the tongue, resulting in its vibration and a “rumbling” sound.

The tip of the tongue should vibrate, not the small tongue or its side. You can check the direction of the air stream using a strip of paper: if pronounced correctly, it will sway.

What prevents you from pronouncing the letter “r” correctly?

The main reasons why this sound is not pronounced are problems associated with the oral cavity.

Short hypoglossal ligament

Another name is bridle. It is this that prevents the tongue from moving freely. Usually this defect is corrected in the maternity hospital. It can also interfere with your baby's ability to latch onto the nipple properly during breastfeeding. If this defect was discovered at school age, it is stretched with speech therapy exercises.

Problems with phonemic awareness

Phonetic hearing is the ability to hear and perceive sounds correctly. At three years old, children should be able to distinguish sounds that are similar to each other, although they cannot yet pronounce them. In some cases, such disorders are associated with adenoids and other diseases. Thus, the child does not hear a certain sound and in his speech he replaces it with another similar one.

Incorrect speech breathing

To correctly pronounce sounds, including the letter P, you need to control your exhalation. Not all children can do this at an early age. Some raise their shoulders to do this, others do not know how to regulate their breathing during speech.

Bite

A correct bite involves the upper teeth overlapping the lower ones by about a third, the remaining teeth should close tightly together. With an incorrect bite, it is physiologically impossible to produce some sounds correctly. The child's bite will need to be corrected.

Types of violations

Violation of the pronunciation of the sounds R and R` is called rhotacism and pararotacism.

There are several options:

Absence of sound in speech - the child does not use another sound instead (for example, “cow” instead of “cow”).
Velar - occurs when the back of the back of the tongue rises too much and comes into contact with the soft palate. As a result, a gap is formed and when air passes through it, the walls of the sky create additional noise, which distorts the pronunciation of sound. This disorder is called burr.
Uvular - only the small tongue vibrates. This type of rotacism is called throat rhotacism.
Side – the side edge vibrates. When pronounced, the sounds R and L` are combined.
Bilibial - this type of disorder is rare. The child creates a vibration with his lips and produces a sound similar to “prrr”.
Labiodental - the sound is produced between the upper lip and lower teeth, and vice versa.
Single-beat or proto sound - the tip of the tongue makes only one blow on the alveoli, and long vibrations are not obtained. The pronounced sound has a D sound; the child cannot pronounce the long, rolling R.
Buccal - the air stream passes through the cheek and lateral edges of the tongue, which causes vibration of the cheeks.
Interdental - the tongue is located between the teeth.
Laryngeal - the sound P occurs as a result of strong tension of the vocal cords.

Pararotacism is the replacement of one sound with another. The sound R is often replaced with its soft version, or replaced with L, which is simpler in articulation.

This sound is also replaced by the following sounds:

B - “pavahod” instead of “parachod”;
D – “duca” instead of “hand”;
G – “pagavoz” instead of “paravoz”;
Y – “yiba” instead of “fish”.

Rhotacism may be a reflection of simple dyslalia, when the pronunciation of one sound is impaired. Or is it a variant of complex dyslalia, when the sound pronunciation of several groups of sounds is impaired. Rotacism and pararotacism may indicate more complex speech disorders - dysarthria, alalia, rhinolalia.

Reasons for incorrect pronunciation

A set of art exercises.

Forms of rotacism:

Distorted pronunciation.
Lack of sound in the child's speech.
Replacing one sound with another.

Causes:

Disorders of articulatory motility and the structure of the articulatory apparatus: short frenulum, narrow or enlarged tongue, malocclusion, lack of teeth, high palate.
Violation of central regulation of breathing. The rhythm and coordination of inhalation and exhalation are disturbed. Exhalation occurs through the nose during throat pronunciation. The defects are caused by changes in muscle tone, limited mobility of the muscles of the larynx, soft palate, vocal folds, tongue and lips.
Pedagogical neglect. The child does not hear literate speech in everyday situations; there is no literacy training. Adults consciously imitate his pronunciation, changing sounds, and do not correct incorrect sounds. They do not read literary works to a preschooler, nor do they have long conversations with him.
Phonemic hearing impairment. The child does not distinguish phonemes of his native language, mixes them up, and does not understand the speech of others well.

Speech breathing problems

Speech breathing is the basis of spoken speech. It is responsible for voice-forming and articulatory functions. Speech breathing is the ability of a person to take a short, deep breath and distribute the air when exhaling while simultaneously pronouncing various sounds. Inhalation is 5-8 times shorter than exhalation. The long-term output is where speech is formed. With correct speech breathing, the child speaks clearly and expressively, observing pauses.

Preschoolers do not control themselves, they begin to speak while inhaling or on the residual output, and take in air before pronouncing each word. This affects correct pronunciation. If the child does not pronounce “R”, correction work should begin with breathing.

Hearing impairment

Phonemic hearing is the ability to distinguish, analyze and differentiate heard phonemes. From birth, children master their native speech by imitation. By the age of 4, a preschooler has developed the technique of pronunciation of all sounds, except sonorous ones.

Impaired phonemic hearing (dyslalia) complicates the perception of oral and written speech in school education, therefore, correction of defects is necessary as soon as they are detected.

Speech therapy exercises for the development of phonemic hearing, which parents can do independently:

The adult names a series of sounds, and the child claps his hands when he hears the one in question.
The adult claps his hands or taps a pencil in a rhythm that the child must repeat.
The adult dictates sound combinations, the child repeats them.
The adult shows the pictures, the child chooses those with the hidden sound.
The adult names the words correctly and incorrectly, the child claps his hands when he hears the correct option.

Automation of the letter "P".

Insufficient development of speech organs

Immaturity of the speech apparatus is the main cause of pronunciation problems in preschool children. The speech apparatus consists of 2 sections: central (brain sections) and peripheral (tongue, lips, soft palate, lower jaw). Brain disorders are diagnosed and corrected by a neuropsychologist. Defects in the articulatory apparatus are eliminated by a speech therapist-defectologist in a playful manner.

Individual structure of the frenulum

A shortened frenulum and anomalies in its location are a defect of the oral cavity that occurs in early childhood. The problem can be effectively solved surgically; if you contact a specialist in a timely manner, the hypoglossal ligament is stretched with the help of exercises and speech therapy tools.

Reasons for violations

Why does a child have a problem with the pronunciation of R? There are several reasons, and to eliminate some of them you need the help of several specialists, not just a speech therapist:

Anatomical features. These include a shortened hyoid frenulum, cleft lip, palate, and malocclusion.
The air stream is not strong enough.
Incorrect position of the organs of articulation - there are no anatomical disorders, but, for example, the tongue is in the wrong position because the child did not remember the correct articulation.
Incorrect speech environment - often parents worry that if they burr, then their children will pronounce R incorrectly. This is not a genetic predisposition, but an incorrect speech environment. The child hears the incorrect pronunciation and tries to copy it. This is why rotacism arises.
The child does not distinguish sounds by ear - this is a violation of the phonetic processes.

In addition, if there is a complex speech disorder - alalia, then incorrect sound pronunciation may be a consequence of insufficient activity of the speech areas of the brain. It is important to determine the exact cause of rhotacism and pararotacism in order to draw up a plan for corrective work.

Speech therapy diagnostics

To determine whether there is a violation of the sonorous group, you need to select speech material. But the examination begins with checking the articulatory apparatus. The specialist pays attention to their anatomical structure. Then evaluates the work using exercises (for example, raising and lowering the tongue).

The speech therapist checks speech breathing. To do this, he asks the child to play wind instruments (pipes); blow on a piece of cotton wool. Thus, the specialist watches how the child inhales and exhales and the force of exhalation.

The sound R must be present in forward and backward syllables, at the beginning, middle and end of the word. You also need to select syllables with a combination of consonants (for example, TRA, KRA and others). It happens that a child can pronounce R and R` paired with consonants - it is important to reflect such moments in speech therapy diagnostics.

You also need to check phonetic processes: the speech therapist calls the child isolated sounds and asks him to clap his hands or raise his hand to the desired sound. Then they also check P in syllables and words. The speech therapist shows the child pictures and asks to see the image that has R in the name.

In addition to speech diagnostics, the specialist conducts a conversation with parents to understand the environment in which the child is growing up. Because if there are adults around who burr or have other types of rhotacism and pararotacism, they need to correct their speech when communicating with him, try to use fewer words with the corrected sound.

Based on all the collected data, the speech therapist draws up correctional work. If necessary, he advises you to contact other specialists to get comprehensive help and achieve results.

Additional exercises

For the development of the speech apparatus, exercises not related to articulation are also useful - tasks for fine motor skills and finger games. Well-developed fine motor skills have a beneficial effect on the development of children's speech.

Exercises:

Grasping movements. The child grabs objects of different shapes (ball, rattle, cube) with the palm of one hand or two hands, then with three fingers (pinch) and two fingers - the thumb and forefinger (tweezer grip).
Correlating actions are the combination of two objects or components of one, for example, a nesting doll or a pyramid. To practice such movements, you can simply tear pieces of paper.
Development of fine motor skills in babies up to one year old with the help of massage.
Various finger movements. Ask your child to show various figures with his fingers, for example, a wolf, a bunny, a chair, a house. At first, the child's movements will be clumsy, but over time they will become more precise and dexterous. It is also important that the preschooler be able to imitate the movements demonstrated by an adult.

The development of fingers is promoted by:

fastening and unfastening zippers, snaps, buttons when putting on and taking off clothes, so this is something that the baby must do himself;
all possible assistance to adults, for example, watering flowers and wiping their leaves with a sponge, wiping off dust, cleaning clothes with a brush (a child can perform such tasks from the age of three);
design, appliqué, modeling, drawing, making toys with your own hands.

There are special finger games that train preschoolers’ fine motor skills, thereby helping them develop correct speech:

Buy a small rubber bulb at the pharmacy; when you press it, a stream of air comes out, which you can use, for example, to play football on the table, trying to use it to push a piece of cotton wool into the goal.
Let your child decorate the prepared baking dough with raisins. Be sure to show how to grab the highlight correctly (with your thumb and index finger - tweezer grip).

Many parents are interested in when to start studying with their baby. The optimal age for making the sound [p] is from three to six years. Articulation gymnastics at the age of three helps to quickly master sound. Most children growl confidently by age 5.5. If this does not happen, you should do corrective articulation gymnastics yourself or by contacting a speech therapist.

Olga Shumskaya

Editor-in-Chief of the Razvivashka Online project for early childhood development

About the expert

Olga is an active mother, passionate about the development of her child. Author of a course on developmental care and educational games, cards, author and editor of articles on early development and the characteristics of a child’s neuropsychology. @razvivaem_zanimaem

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Areas of development

Physical development
Speech development
Development of thinking
Cognitive development
Reading
English language

What specialist help may be needed?

If the cause of a speech defect in a child is a shortened hyoid frenulum, then consultation with a surgeon may be required. But in modern speech therapy they solve this problem with the help of exercises. And only those who have a too short frenulum need the help of a surgeon. This defect makes it difficult to raise the tongue, which is the basis for the pronunciation of R.

If your bite is incorrect, your speech therapist may advise you to see an orthodontist. If there is a complex speech disorder (dysarthria, alalia), to activate speech processes you need a special course of treatment, which is selected by a neurologist. As well as a consultation with a defectologist who can draw up a plan for corrective work on the development of the emotional-volitional sphere.

Is surgery necessary?

A speech defect such as burr is not a serious disorder of speech function, but it can significantly ruin your life. A person who burrs cannot, a priori, be a good speaker, since burr speech is perceived by many as something comical.

For those who have suffered from this trouble from birth, the road to many types of activities related to communication is closed. There is an opinion that it is unrealistic to get rid of burr in adulthood if this moment was missed in childhood. Meanwhile, this speech defect can be corrected at any age, even after puberty.

There are two ways to learn to pronounce the letter “r” for adults - radical, with the help of surgical intervention, and conservative, with the help of special speech exercises. First, let’s figure out what lies at the root of the speech apparatus’s insensitivity to pronouncing the letter “r”.

So, the cause of burr is a phenomenon called ankyloglossia. This is a congenital malformation of the oral cavity, which is characterized by low mobility of the tongue due to the too short length of the lingual frenulum (a strip of tissue that connects the floor of the oral cavity with the tongue itself). The easiest and fastest way to correct the situation is to consult a surgeon. Trimming the frenulum is done under local anesthesia, the wound heals in a few days, after which the mobility of the tongue is completely restored, and subsequently the question of how to learn to pronounce the letter “r” will disappear by itself.

There is also a bloodless way to defeat ankyloglossia - stretch the frenulum of the tongue with the help of simple exercises. You need to open your mouth wide and try to stick out your tongue as far as possible, trying to reach the middle of your chin. Another exercise is to slightly tilt your head back and stretch your tongue towards your upper lip.

Vigorously moving your tongue in different directions with your mouth closed is also helpful. To achieve the greatest effectiveness, you should combine these exercises with pronouncing tongue twisters containing the letter “r”. If tongue twisters are not easy for you at first, simplify the task - say out loud individual words containing this letter.

Preparatory stage

Р and Р` are complex sounds, so before you start playing them, you need to do some preparatory work. This stage is based on articulatory gymnastics and includes exercises for the tongue. Exercises should be static (holding a certain position) and dynamic:

"Smile". The lips are stretched in a smile, the teeth are together, the tongue is at the bottom.
"Window". The mouth is open, the lips are in the same position as when pronouncing O, tongue down.
"Fence". The lips are shaped like a square (as when pronouncing Ш), the teeth are together, the tongue is below.
"Tube". The lips are pulled forward, the mouth is slightly open, the tongue is in the same position as in previous tasks.
"Spatula". The mouth is open, place a wide, relaxed tongue on the lower lip and hold in this position.
"Needle." The mouth is open, you should try to reach the chin with your tongue, and it should be narrow.
"Swing". The lips are smiling, the tongue is narrow and needs to be raised and lowered.
"Watch." The lips are in the same position, only the tongue needs to be moved left and right.
"Cup". The child is smiling, place a wide tongue on the lower lip. Then lift the tip of the tongue and its side edges. It should form a “cup” and hold it in this position.

These were basic exercises that prepare the organs of the articulatory apparatus for producing sound. Static exercises should be held for 10-15 seconds. You need to start with a small number of repetitions, up to 3, gradually increasing them to 5-7.

After the basic exercises, you can move on to the tasks that are needed to prepare your apparatus specifically for pronouncing a sonorous group:

“Brushing the upper teeth.” The lips smile, with the wide tip of the tongue you need to imitate the movements as when using a toothbrush. And thus “clean” your upper teeth.
"Clearing the sky." You need to make forward and backward movements with your wide tongue.
"Fungus". The child should suck his tongue to the roof of his mouth. This exercise is not easy, so to simplify the task, you can ask to hold caramel or ascorbic acid.
"Harmonic". The organs of articulation are in the “Mushroom” position. The lower jaw moves up and down - it turns out to be an accordion.
"Horse". The child imitates the clatter of hooves. The tongue should be wide when performing the exercise.
"Drummer". Repeating the sound D several times. Lips in a smiling position. Please note that the sound should be clean and clear, no sensing.
"Turkey". The wide tongue needs to be fixed on the upper lip. Move it back and forth, “stroking.” And when performing, add a voice and a combination of BL sounds.

These exercises are aimed at preparing for the production of P and P`. This complex of articulatory gymnastics helps the child master correct pronunciation. And it can and should be done, even if there are no speech disorders. Then, by the age of four or five, the child will pronounce sounds correctly.

In addition to articulatory gymnastics, they work on the formation of speech breathing; it should be diaphragmatic. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. The specialist invites the child to feel the work of the diaphragm; he places his hand on this area.

Invite your child to play the game “Kick the ball into the goal.” To do this you will need two small pieces of cotton wool, place glasses that will serve as gates. Compete to see who can hit a cotton wool ball into the goal. Make sure that the child inhales through the nose and does not puff out his cheeks when exhaling. This exercise is aimed at creating a strong exhalation.

In speech therapy classes on production and in the first stages of automation, performing this set of exercises for articulation and breathing is mandatory. Why can these tasks be skipped at later stages of automation and differentiation? Because in these classes more attention is paid to consolidating sound in coherent speech and developing phonetic processes.

Bogomolova method

A.I. Bogomolova in 1979 proposed a method for generating vibration for saying “R”. The teeth are open to a distance of 2 fingers. The tongue is pressed against the palate, stretching the frenulum as much as possible. The teacher moves the edges of the tongue towards the palate with his fingers, while the frenulum is free.

The child takes a deep breath and blows it out sharply, using his voice. The combination “TZ” is formed. Repeat the exercise, gradually increasing the air pressure. The sound combination “TLE” will change to “TR”. After fixing the short “TR”, they practice the rolling “TR” with the help of fingers, and then without them.

Staging methods

Correction needs to be done in stages. After the preparatory work comes the staging stage.

There are several ways you can practice at home:

From the “Mushroom” exercise. When the tongue is in the desired position, the child exhales forcefully onto the tip of the tongue. The result is vibration. For this method, the child must be able to exhale forcefully.
Mechanical or "Chatterbox". For this method, you can use a ball probe, but at home, parents can use a cotton swab. The child performs the “Drummer” exercise, while the adult places the tip of a cotton swab under the tongue and makes oscillatory movements from side to side. You will get a combination of DR. But be sure to make sure that the D sound in the exercise is clear. For convenience, the child can be in a lying position.
From a combination of healthy lifestyles. The wide tongue is raised by the upper teeth and the child pronounces the ZZ for a long time. He feels a slight vibration and with a stronger exhalation he will get R.

These are the most popular ways to create a sonorous sound yourself at home. In children with normal speech development, this sound appears through onomatopoeia. Provided that his articulatory apparatus is prepared. By the age of five years, a child should clearly pronounce all groups of sounds.

Possible difficulties during installation

You should not automate sound in speech if the articulatory apparatus is not sufficiently prepared. Even if you manage to mechanically deliver P, then due to the weak tone of the tongue in speech, the tongue will “slip” and you will get a distorted sound. If the child does not have a strong air stream, the vibration will not be pronounced enough, which also leads to incorrect sound pronunciation.

If the isolated sound is unclear, there is no need to automate it. The child will remember the incorrect pronunciation (namely the organs of articulation) and then it will be more difficult to correct. And distorted pronunciation of R can lead to problems when reading and writing. Therefore, for preschoolers of the senior and preparatory groups, include exercises for the letter R in your classes.

Do not confuse the concepts of “sound” and “letter”. We hear sounds, but we see letters. You are engaged in production and automation of sound, and in reading and writing lessons you study letters.

Some parents do not pay attention to the hyoid frenulum. And sometimes it is precisely because of this that the child has difficulties with sound production. If it is short, do exercises to stretch it (“Mushroom”, “Accordion”). If parents have rhoticism, then only a speech therapist or an adult with correct pronunciation should conduct classes. For effective classes, you need to create suitable conditions and select exercises for the sound R. Then the correction work will be more successful.

Audio Automation Recommendations

As soon as the child manages to pronounce R, begin his automation in syllables. Before doing this, practice making a long, rolling sound, let your tongue get used to the feeling of vibration. Usually, correct pronunciation is reinforced in straight syllables (RA, RO, RU), but in the case of the sound P, some children find it easier when it is in a solid position, and not when the organs of articulation occupy the position of the subsequent vowel.

At the stage of consolidation in syllables, use syllabic paths and pure phrases. Proceed with consolidation in words only when the child confidently pronounces R in syllables. Offer the following tasks: come up with words for this sound, name all the objects, for example, in the room, that have this sound. To practice correct pronunciation in phrases, short poems are suitable; you can compose phrases from the proposed words, tongue twisters.

Then comes automation in sentences and coherent speech. The child can compose stories based on the picture, from the proposed list of words. An adult can come up with a fairy tale about the sound R and invite the child to retell it. At the same time, you need to work on correlating the sound with the letter: write the letter P, lay it out from available materials.

At the beginning of the automation stage in tasks, speech material should be saturated with the sound R. The organs of articulation must remember the correct position during pronunciation, and the child fixes its correct sound in speech. Also, in speech therapy exercises for the sound R, at the very beginning of reinforcement, the adult pronounces it together with the child, then the child repeats it. And then the speech therapist or parents ask him to say it himself. When selecting speech material, do not use words using the soft version of R and the sounds L and L`. Speech material must correspond to children's perception.

Duration of correctional work

How long does it take to develop the correct pronunciation of the sound R? In modern speech therapy there are no clear time boundaries. This applies to working with any group of sounds. It all depends on the individual characteristics of the child. You can install sound already in the first lessons (if preparatory work has been done), but the automation stage can take quite a long time.

The sound R is complex in articulation, which is why it appears in speech at an older age. There is no need to rush into automation; your task is to achieve clear sound and stable vibration. The tongue should not “slip” when the child pronounces words. To make it interesting for him, use didactic games, and not just verbal and visual material.

You can look for a specific speech therapy technique, but they are all built on the principles and practical tips outlined above. The main condition for successful correctional work is diagnosis and correctional work taking into account the individual characteristics of the child.