How to teach a child to say the letter “r” at home quickly

July 16, 2018

Averyanova Sveta

Pronouncing the hard and soft sound “r” is rarely easy for children. In speech therapy, there is even a special “indulgence” for “l” and “r”: if for the basic alphabet the norm of development is within 4 years, then for “l” and “r” experts allocate two more preschool years - up to 6 years .

When preparing for school, teachers especially focus the attention of parents on how to teach their child to say the letter “R”. In school education, incorrect pronunciation can become a problem for a child, first of all psychological, and then communicative. A careful attitude to children's speech at 2-4 years old can correct the situation.

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.

Causes

Why people burr is the main question that interests burr people.

The first thing you need to understand is the main causes of burr in adults and children:

• Mechanical is a reason that appears as a result of malocclusion, a person’s hard palate or hyperdontia.
• The acoustic reason arises due to the fact that a person confuses similar sounds with each other (for example, “R” and “L”).
• The imitative reason stretches from deep childhood. From birth, a child hears incorrect pronunciation of sounds, but does not understand it. Accordingly, he begins to pronounce sounds in the same way as his parents. For example, the letter r is like the letter l.
• Neuralgic dyslalia occurs due to the appearance of pathologies in certain areas of the brain. They are responsible for correct speech.
• Functional dyslalia appears due to disorders of the speech apparatus: weak muscles and a short frenulum of the tongue.

There is also an opinion that burring is inherited. There is a high probability that if one of the parents burrs, then his child will also inherit this problem.

How can a child distort "R"

Incorrect “r” sounds are called rhotacism - these are the sounds that are replaced instead of this letter. Before determining exercises for producing the sound R, it is necessary to understand exactly how the child pronounces this sound. It happens like this:

• Burr or speaking through the throat. When pronounced, the palate vibrates instead of the tip of the tongue. A similar phenomenon is more typical for French, but not for Russian.
• Lateral "R". This happens if the side is pressed against the upper jaw, the opposite side hangs down. In this case, the tip cannot vibrate, and the sound P itself is more similar to “rl”.
• Single-stroke "r". Instead of shaking, the tip hits the roof of your mouth. This is how the English letter “R” is pronounced.
• Pronunciation through the nose. The air flow must pass through the mouth.
• Kucherskoe R. The tongue vibrates on the pressed lips, resulting in the sound “tpr”, not a pure R.
• Pararotacism. This is the phenomenon of replacing the sound P with another, for example G.L,V.
• Pass. The child simply does not pronounce this sound at all and misses it in his speech.

General recommendations for independent speech therapy sessions

• Classes should not overload the child. The length of one “lesson” should not be more than 45 minutes.
• Be sure to alternate types of tasks so that your child does not get tired.
• Support and praise your child for every positive change. You should not swear or get angry if something is done incorrectly. Perhaps while the articulatory apparatus
• is not ready to pronounce such a complex sound, or your son or daughter does not fully understand what he needs to do.
• Use a mirror when practicing. Looking into it, it is more convenient to control articulation.
• Use all kinds of games and entertainment to keep your child interested and prevent him from becoming overtired.
• Lessons do not have to be done at home at the table. Communicate more - on a walk, during everyday activities. Ask questions, encouraging them to pronounce the correct letters.
• Don’t quit classes “halfway”! If it seems to you that the sound has already been achieved, you definitely need to introduce it into speech, bring the pronunciation to automatism. Otherwise, all your and your children’s efforts will be in vain.
• Be friends with your child. Support and encourage each other. By dealing with such a problem, you can convey to him that he can overcome many problems in his life. With your support or on your own.

Date of publication: 07/09/2016. Last modified: 12/02/2021.

What exercises can you do at home?

Exercises should be aimed at the reason why the child cannot pronounce this sound R.

Exercises for the hyoid ligament

This exercise improves the elasticity of the tongue muscle and develops its mobility. The exercise consists of the following:

• try to reach your nose with the tip;
• the tongue is pressed firmly to the palate and drawn towards the throat as far as possible;
• open your mouth, bend your tongue out as far as possible;
• carried out along the inside of the teeth in different directions;
• rolls up with a shovel and sticks out.

Exercises to develop mobility of the tip of the tongue

The sound P appears only when the tip vibrates. To develop this, there are special exercises:

• bite the tip;
• click the tongue pressed to the palate;
• the protruding tongue is pressed against the lip and air is exhaled, thereby creating vibration at its tip;
• pronounce the letters D, T with your mouth open.
• "D" and "T".

Statement P

Exercises aimed at correct pronunciation:

• R is pronounced in the position of the tongue in which the sounds D and T are pronounced, but with slight vibration. To do this, the tongue is pressed tightly against the palate and the air is exhaled.
• Say "DRRRRR" or "TRRRRR".
• Connecting to the sound of vowels, for example DRO, BRO, VRE.
• Pronounce words with a combination of the letters “tr” and “dr”.
• Consolidating the result with tongue twisters.

It is advisable to do all these exercises in front of a mirror and under the supervision of an adult, who should help and advise.

Exercises to stretch the frenulum of the tongue

With a short frenulum of the tongue, speech therapists first of all recommend stretching it with the help of massage and articulation exercises. They can be performed in a playful way, and with the proper approach, the frenulum will no longer be an obstacle to the pronunciation of the sound “r”. It should be noted that the conservative method of frenulum lengthening is effective in children under 5 years of age.

• Reaching up to the nose

Reaching the tip of the nose is not a task that everyone can do, but you can hold a competition to see who can reach the strongest. The tip of the tongue should be pulled up as much as possible. Repeat the exercise 5-7 times a day.

• Like a kitten

Has your child ever seen kittens lap up milk? Invite your child to try lapping something like a house cat. For example, condensed milk on a plate. This is an excellent action for stretching the frenulum.

• Light massage

Massage of the hyoid frenulum to stretch it is carried out by adults. This simple procedure can be carried out at home after the method of stretching the frenulum with massage is demonstrated by a speech therapist. The child opens his mouth and lifts the tip of his tongue upward. With clean fingers (thumb and forefinger), the adult carefully takes the frenulum under the tongue and makes massaging movements. A slight upward pull of the bridle is acceptable. Do the massage 2 times a day for 3 minutes.

Articulation exercises

Before starting all the exercises, you need to do gymnastics, and only then proceed to the training itself.

Swing

Loose tongue with open mouth. You need to touch the upper and lower teeth. Periodically lingers on the top for 10-20 seconds.

Cuckoo

The tip sticks out and touches the upper lip, and then goes behind the upper teeth. The mouth should be wide open.

Painter

The tongue is passed over the teeth, cheeks, and palate. The tongue is like a brush and you need to paint the inside of the oral cavity with it.

horse

The tongue makes clicking sounds.

Treat

The tongue licks the lips clockwise.

Kitty

Lick an imaginary treat from a saucer. The tongue should not be curled.

Harmonic

You need to raise your tongue and secure it to the roof of your mouth. In this position, close your mouth.

Hammer

Smile widely and tap your lower teeth with the tip of your tongue.

How to make the sound R

It is recommended to start with setting other sounds, and only after that move on to the letter R.

Drum

Hit your upper teeth with your tongue and at the same time pronounce the letter D. The pace gradually accelerates.

Buzzer

When pronouncing Zh, we slowly pull the tongue towards the throat. The sound Zh should go into R.

Snake

We repeat the letter C and swallow our tongue, touching the tip of the palate with it.

Turkey

You need to stick out your tongue and move it back and forth, making sliding movements with its tip along the roof of your mouth.

Komarik

You need to open your mouth, raise your tongue up and rest it on the alveoli, making buzzing sounds.

Motor

A finger is placed under the tongue and active movements are made. At the same time, the KOMARIK exercise is performed.

How to consolidate the result

If the child begins to pronounce this sound, it is necessary to reinforce this. To do this, there are some exercises:

• say R loudly several times;
• consolidate through the pronunciation of words and syllables with the letter P;
• remove exercises with “D”;
• switch to reverse pronunciations, instead of RA-RO, say AR-OR;
• use tongue twisters.

These exercises will consolidate the result and bring the pronunciation of the letter P to automaticity. At the initial stages, the amount of P should be large. The child must remember and get used to the articulation of this sound. P should be firmly fixed in his speech. An adult should pronounce it together with the baby, showing the correct pronunciation. Then the child must actively use words with R in his speech.

Automation exercises

Automation classes are necessary so that the baby can learn to correctly say words with “r” and phrases with such words. After such exercises and games, the baby begins to pronounce the sound correctly, without thinking.

Game " Repetition ". Tell your child about repeaters, that they are funny gnomes with huge ears, thanks to which they hear perfectly. Gnomes always strive to repeat what they hear. Turn to your child: “Show me what ears the repeaters have.” Big, big! “Now repeat: ro-ro-ro, ry-ry-ry, ru-ru-ru, ra-ra-ra.” The voice should sound at different heights and be either quiet or loud. The baby must repeat.

In pure tongues, the adult says the beginning of the phrase, and the baby must say its last word. Such activities simultaneously allow you to consolidate results and develop a sense of rhyme and rhythm.

Automation using pure words:

• ry-ry-ry what do we have in our hands? balls;
• ra-ra-ra continues? a game;
• ru-ru-ru kicking? ball;
• ro-ro-ro ball where did it fall? in a bucket;
• ar-ar-ar burns in the dark? flashlight;
• or-or-or went for a walk in? yard;
• ur-ur-ur what did the cat say? mur.

Advice You can come up with phrases for a speech therapy class yourself - the main thing is that the child has fun and interesting.

Game “ Echo ” - we teach a preschooler sound by repeating after an adult syllables that begin and end with [r]. For example, ra-ma-ra-ma, ma-ra-ma-ra, ur-ar-or, yr-ir-yur.

We learn the letter “ r ” in more complex syllables :

• gro-gro-gro;
• vry-three-kry;
• zra-zry-zru-zro;
• mra-gra-zhra;
• great-great-great.

Game “ The fourth odd one ”: name the child four syllables and ask him to name which one will be extra. For example, ka-ra-ka-ka, ro-ro-ru-ro, tru-tru-dru-tru, morning-morning-atr-morning.

After practicing with syllables, talk to your child about words that begin with them . For example, tru is a pipe, dro is a friend, dra is a dragon, tro is a path, tra is grass.

A preschooler will not be of much interest in lessons in which he repeats syllables or sentences after an adult. It is imperative to study and use funny children's poems, tasks, games, and pictures.

To automate [r] in sentences and words, you can ask the baby to clap his hands when he hears this sound, or repeat after an adult only words with [r] (speak words mixed with and without “r”). Invite your child to find flowers that have [r] in their names, for example, chamomile, rose.

Sound production methods

Imitation

In children under six years of age, the sound P often appears as a result of their imitation. That is why adults must speak correctly, clearly, as clearly as possible. Adults must demonstrate perfect phonetic pronunciation.

Exercises from "F"

If the pronunciation of this letter is not impaired, then when pronouncing it, the tongue is moved with a finger or a stick inside the mouth. So the letter Zh smoothly turns into R. This is reinforced by frequent repetition, gradually the child pronounces the desired sound without using an auxiliary one.

If a preschooler pronounces “F” correctly, then when pronouncing it, you can move the tongue with a stick deeper into the mouth. A short “R” is formed. Strengthen it by repeating the exercises. After automating “R”, select words without using “F”.

Exercises from "C"

The child must draw out the letter, inhale and press his tongue against the alveoli. This is how R will appear. By carrying out strengthening exercises, you can achieve complete automation of R in speech.

Production from "Z"

When pronouncing “Z,” the child lightly touches the alveoli with the tip of his tongue and simultaneously blows on the tongue. This way the required “P” will be heard with vibration. This method is similar to the “C” method and is rarely used by speech therapists.

Pronunciation of R while inhaling

Speech is pronounced when inhaling, it should be short.

Mechanical method

The sound R can be produced mechanically. This will require special speech therapy tools. The child should open his mouth and raise his tongue to the palate. At this time, the speech therapist makes tapping movements with a hammer on the alveoli and vibrates the tongue with a spatula. The sound must first be fixed with the help of instruments, then the child gets used to it and can do without them.

The vibration occurs when a wad of thick paper and string is placed on the tip of the tongue. When it is removed from the surface, you need to blow strongly on the tongue. This must be used carefully without injuring the child.

When and how to start

Therefore, if you or the child himself decides that something needs to be done about this, then you need to do it right away! Speech therapists say that the throat “r” is one of the most difficult problems that is problematic to eliminate. The sooner you start, the better. In adults, this defect cannot be cured, but in a child, correction can take a lot of time and require a fair amount of effort.

Of course, it's not all that bad. It happens that a speech therapist corrects the laryngeal “r” quite quickly, literally in a month or two, and in exceptional cases – in just a few sessions. But it is a mistake to think that “it will go away on its own.” It itself goes away extremely rarely, experts say, and it is better not to delay the elimination of this defect.

Setting “R” according to Khvattsev

This technique was created by teacher Mikhail Efimovich Khvattsev in 1959. This method consists of several successive steps:

• Composing individual phrases containing similar words that differ by one letter - pitifully hot, thief-ox and others.
• Causing vibrations in the tongue mechanically. To do this, knock on the gums.
• Getting the sound "R" from "D".
• Bringing pronunciation to automaticity, we pronounce syllables and words with this letter.

This technique is actively used today, although it appeared during the USSR period.

Levina's method

Rosa Evgenievna Levina created her own method in 1965, which consisted of articulation exercises for setting the letter R. At the beginning of the lessons, the fricative R is achieved, which does not have a characteristic vibration.

• The second stage is training the sounds Zh, Sh. You need to move your lips apart, but without rounding them. In this case, you need to pull out the sound Zh and move the tip of your tongue to the top.
• At the first stage, the exercises are aimed at obtaining the fricative "P" without vibration after achieving correct articulation.
• To obtain P, D is used, which must be pronounced while exhaling. The mouth should be open and the tongue connected to the upper gums.

How to conduct a speech therapy warm-up

All classes with a speech therapist or at home should begin with a warm-up. It has a number of tasks:

• develops motor skills and articulation;
• improves lower diaphragmatic breathing;
• develops oral and nasal pronunciation of individual sounds;
• activates the muscles of the palate, tongue, and pharynx;
• the child's voice and ability to speak with expression are assessed;
• a sense of rhythm is developed;
• improves the musculature of the articulatory muscles.

Here you can use various tongue twisters, rhymes, and children's songs.

Correct R sound

Speech therapists recommend putting this sound last. This usually happens at 5-6 years of age. Until this age, incorrect P is considered normal. Many children begin to pronounce it on their own, without the efforts of a speech therapist or special exercises. There are cases when the help of a speech therapist may be needed earlier. This is necessary if P has already appeared, but in the wrong form. It can be replaced by L, V and others. Normally, P should be pronounced when:

• relaxed lips;
• the distance between the lower and upper jaw does not exceed 5mm;
• the tongue is raised to the gums of the upper teeth;
• the tongue should vibrate;
• the middle part of the lingual muscle is slightly arched;
• the back part is pressed against the palate;
• the sides are pressed to the top;
• the vocal cords undergo intense vibrations.

Only in this case can the pronunciation be considered normal and correct.