The missing "S"

" I daw a nake over there and it melled like a kunk!".  What's missing???  Hmmmmm, yep, you guessed it. This sentence is missing the important phoneme that most of us know as the /s/ sound.

The phoneme /s/ is the second most commonly used sound in the English language. So, when a child has difficulty with their /s/ sound, it can be REALLY difficult to understand them. Most of us are able to remember hearing someone speak with a lisp, and many of us have children who  have been known to have difficulty with this letter sound. So, let's explore how to help them find that /s/ again!

For purposes of this post not taking until Christmas to read (or write for that matter), I will focus on one specific difficulty with the /s/ sound. That is, the /s/ in a consonant blend.

A blend of consonants is two or more consonant sounds in a sequence within a word. For example sn---as in 'snake', sp---as in 'spider', and even ts---as in 'hats'.  When a child has difficulty with their consonant blends, the general rule is that they will leave off or delete the more difficult of  the two consonants. In /s/ blends, the /s/ is almost always more difficulty than it's adjoining consonant. Therefore, it gets the boot!

Spider is renamed a "bider"
Snow becomes a very excited "NO!"
Smile is now a unit of length, a "mile".

Confusing, right?  Imagine if you were the one trying to be understood!

Now that you know what is missing, how can you help? Let's start with the physiology...
The /s/ sound is produced with:

1) Your tongue tip slightly hovering behind your top teeth. 
2)The sides of your tongue lightly touching your upper set of molars. 
3)Your teeth remaining closed.


Now, let air out of the front of your mouth like a leaking balloon. Right over your tongue and out your front teeth.

Since this is a constant stream of air, I like to have the kids visualize the sound as a slithering snake, or a long string, even run a finger up or down their arm.

If the s-blend is at the beginning of a word, we have to define a stopping place for the next consonant. So, if you are using the "arm" technique make sure you help the child visualize where the /s/ ends and the next consonant is articulated.

For example, to teach the word "star", start at your hand and run  your finger (while making the /s/ sound) all the way up your arm to your face, and then tap your teeth when you get to the /t/ sound...to show where the /s/ ends and the next consonant is produced. You may also start at the shoulder or elbow and work your way down to the hand. Once you get to the hand, the second consonant sound is produced, followed immediately by the rest of the word.

It is important to remember that we are multi-sensory learners, children even more so. The more senses (sight, sound, touch, etc..) that you can incorporate, the easier it will be to learn!

This, again is a very visual sound and fairly easy to elicit...let me know if you have any questions/comment. I'm not going anywhere:)

Sarahv

Ixnay Screen Time

Before I go into my rant on television and young children, let me be very clear that I write this with ZERO condemnation. I am a parent who allows my 14 month old to watch a half-hour program almost every day. This post is intended to be purely informative and educational.

I am, however, going to clearly stress that if your child has more TV time than interactive language time with real live individuals, they WILL have a language delay.That's just the way it goes. So, yes, I am very passionate about this subject.

Let's play this out.  Your excitable 10 month old is running around, getting into cupboards, and screaming for your attention. You need to shower, do five loads of laundry, make breakfast, clean up the dishes, and finish your Facebook stalking. So, you turn on the TV. What happens to your baby....they become the poster child for the newest baby ZOMBIE movie. They immediately get sucked into the lights and sound, yet are unable to process the fast pace of what is actually happening in the program. 

How much screen time is your child exposed to each day? This includes both shows geared towards children and shows that you have on for your own enjoyment...be honest.  You'd be surprised how many families don't realize how much television/computer/iPhone time  their baby/toddler is exposed to during the day. Most families understand,even less, how little children are able to pick up from TV shows before two years of age.

Within the first year of life, children's brains TRIPPLE in mass! 3Xs! The majority of that growth comes from  the building of their language. What we know, is that children can learn little to nothing from watching television prior to the age of two. Yet, surveys show that between 40-60% of families have the television on most of the day.

So how do they learn language if not from television? The only way they learn is from the world around them, from play, from interactions with live people playing out life circumstance, from YOU. Not from Elmo, Backyardigans, YoGabbaGabba, Dora, or Cat in the Hat; from YOU.

What about attention? Studies have also shown that children who have consistent screen time also have difficulty with attention later in life. Has anyone heard of a rise in ADD/ADHD lately? I have!

"Well, the TV is only on for background noise". Studies also show that for every hour that a child under two years is exposed to screen time, they spend 50 minutes less interaction time with a parent. In our busy world, that is a sad realization.

There is no problem solving going on while watching TV, no creative play, no talking with others, no cause and effect (aside from turning the TV on and off), and no opportunity to watch your child grow. So press the off button. And if you MUST have it on sometimes, talk to your child about the program as they watch it. Name the characters, talk about what they are doing, what they are saying, what they are learning.

We all want to raise intelligent, patient, kind, social, and mindful children. So, do your part as the parent and lead by example.

Thank You.

Sarahv