When a mother notices that the child is missing sounds, does not utter words completely or lisps, she turns to a speech therapist. The specialist helps to correct problems with speech therapy exercises.
Classes with a speech therapist contribute to the rapid development of correct speech. These include gymnastics for the development of speech, finger games, poetry, imitation of sounds. Let's take a closer look at which speech therapy classes are best for children and which exercises for every day contribute to the development of hearing, articulation and fine motor skills.
Why do speech disorders occur?
When parents notice that a child does not speak quite as expected by age, they first of all go to the pediatrician, who directs the baby for a speech therapy examination.
However, in many cases, the baby should also be examined by a neurologist, orthodontist, and otorhinolaryngologist.
All causes of problems with the development of speech can be divided into 2 groups:
- organic violations, which resulted in damage to the central nervous system or organs that form sounds;
- functional disorders, due to which the speech apparatus cannot work normally.
Different factors can lead to the appearance of both groups of disorders, for example, an infection in the mother while carrying a child, trauma during childbirth, ear inflammation in early childhood, cerebral palsy, abnormal tooth growth, short frenulum, visual impairment, and so on.
In addition, the baby can pick up incorrect pronunciation if he communicates with a person who has speech defects.
Who needs speech therapy classes?
All children develop at their own pace according to an individual schedule, however, there are certain averaged indicators by which the mother can navigate whether the baby needs the help of a speech therapist.
- At 12-18 months, babies usually mimic different sounds well, try to repeat words, know their name and respond to it. Their vocabulary contains up to 20-40 simple words. These babies carefully examine the pictures in the books and show the objects that interest them.
- At the age of 2-3, the child knows his own name well, can show parts of the body, recognize a loved one in a photograph. He is able to perform a simple task, such as putting an apple on the table. The vocabulary of a child 2-3 years old is 200-1000 words, the baby can ask simple questions and talk in simple sentences. Pronunciation improves, but some sounds may be missing.
- At 3-4 years old, a child is able to classify objects, understand simple questions, and hear the difference between sounds. His vocabulary expands to 1500 words, and his speech consists of complex sentences and numerous questions. Such children actively develop imagination and abstract thinking, they can tell fairy tales from pictures, learn songs and poems.
- At the age of 5 and older, the child can freely communicate on an interesting topic, invent stories. He has to make all the sounds, but some babies still lisp. The child voices what he has seen and done, asks different questions, speaks with intonation and expression. Many children at this age already know the letters and begin to read.
Types of activities for the development of speech
To stimulate the development of speech, it is recommended:
- perform special exercises for the muscles of the face, called articulation;
- use finger games;
- arrange games in which the baby will imitate sounds;
- learn poetry and build vocabulary in other ways.
To choose the best speech therapy lesson scheme that will suit your child, you should contact a competent specialist.
He will carry out diagnostics, determining the parameters of the development of the baby, and will also take into account the interests of the baby. Because the main activity of young children is games, the game format is perfect for speech therapy exercises.
If classes are held with a speech therapist, they can be both individually and in groups of several children... For group lessons, children are divided by age, for example, 2-3 years old and 4-5 years old. An individual speech therapist can work with a non-speaking child in kindergarten or at home.
In case of minor violations, the specialist involves the parents in the process - he shows and tells how you can deal with the baby every day at home. For effective independent training, a home notebook is started, in which the exercises, the duration of the lesson and the baby's progress are noted.
Speech therapists confirm that the participation of parents in the formation of speech greatly affects the final result of the classes. If mom and dad are actively involved in work, do home exercises and listen to the recommendations of specialists, the child learns the correct speech much faster. It is only important to remember that this is a long process, but patience will definitely be rewarded with good success for the baby.
How to build a lesson?
One of the important conditions - exercise should be daily. At the same time, the duration of the lesson should not be too long, so as not to tire the baby.
At the age of 4-5 years, it is enough to devote 15-20 minutes to speech correction a day, dividing this time into several small sessions.
Articulation gymnastics
This type of gymnastic exercise is aimed at strengthening the muscles of the face and mouth. It has a great influence on the correct development of sound pronunciation and includes a fairly large list of exercises. All of them are divided into static (the child must fix the desired position for a while) and dynamic (the child should move his tongue and lips).
For the best performance of gymnastics, it is recommended to do it in front of a mirror, so that the child can see the movements of his lips and tongue. So he will quickly understand how to position them correctly, and the exercises will be more effective. You can also supplement articulatory exercises with breathing exercises.
We suggest trying these exercises.
- Perform each movement for 30 seconds. Stretch your lips into a smile, leaving your mouth closed. Then smile with open teeth. Open your mouth, stick out your tongue and roll it into a "tube". Place your relaxed tongue on your lower lip.
- Open your mouth, put your tongue on your lower lip and begin to pronounce the syllable "pia". Then, without lifting your tongue from your lips, slowly slide it along the lower lip, and then along the upper one, as if you were "licking jam".
- Make the language "watch". To do this, smile, opening your mouth a little, then touch the end of your tongue to the right corner of your mouth. Move your tongue to the left corner and back to a tick-tock rhythm.
- Imagine brushing your teeth with your tongue. Smile and open your mouth slightly, then press the end of your tongue against the inner surface of your lower teeth. Swipe left and right 7-10 times, and then repeat for the upper teeth.
- Imitate a snake. Open your mouth by sticking out the tip of your tongue and tucking it back several times. Do not touch your lips or teeth.
- Make an accordion. Open your mouth, but at the same time press your tongue to the palate. Pull your lower jaw down, being careful not to pull your tongue out.
Finger games
Such exercises will give the maximum effect if you do them every day, even for 5 minutes. They are good for the development of fine motor skills, and it, as proven by scientists, is directly related to the development of speech.
That is why rhymes, during the performance of which finger movements are performed, stimulate imagination, reaction, thinking, emotional development and attention. As a result, the baby learns the text, and his speech becomes better.
Finger games are perfect for physical education during speech therapy classes. They switch the child to other activities, but they do not scatter attention and do not interfere with learning.
They are useful and funny, help to coordinate the movements of both hands, teach to repeat after adults, have a positive effect on memory and perseverance.
Here are some interesting games.
- "Birdie". Cross your palms, interlocking them with your thumbs, which will be the "head" of the bird, and the rest of your fingers will become "wings". On the words "The bird has flown", start moving your free fingers, as if flapping your wings. Having said "Sat down, sat down," press your palms to your chest, and then wave again under the words "She flew further."
- "Cat". Place your palms, fingers down, on the table, clenching them into fists. Say "Fist - palm, I walk like a cat" and at this time, trying not to take your hands off the table, straighten your fingers.
- "Flowers". Bring the fingers of each hand together like flower buds. Pronounce the lines of the poem "The sun is rising - the bud is opening," while spreading your fingers to the sides. Then say “The sun goes down - the flower goes to sleep” and make “buds” from your fingers again.
- "Making a cake." Pronouncing the lines of a verse, we imitate what was said. Squeeze and unclench your fingers several times, saying "We remember the dough with our handles", then imagine that you are kneading the dough and say "We'll bake a delicious cake." Performing circular movements with your palms on the table, say "Grease the middle with jam", then rub one palm against the other in circular movements and say "And the top - with sweet cream." Pretend to sprinkle the cake on top and say, "And we'll decorate a little bit with coconut crumbs." Having said further, "And then we will make tea - invite a friend to visit," shake one hand with the other, as when meeting.
Hearing development
A child will not be able to speak normally if he does not have a sufficiently developed speech (also called phonemic) hearing. It is he who is responsible for the fact that the baby normally distinguishes individual sounds, understands them and reproduces them.
If the hearing is not developed enough, the perception of another person's speech will be distorted, so the little one will speak indistinctly and incorrectly.
To improve your phonemic hearing, you can:
- choose several objects, listen to what sounds they make, and then guess each object, hiding it behind your back;
- guess with closed eyes where in the room the bell is ringing in the hands of an adult;
- imitate the voices of animals and birds (kar-kar, z-z-z, mu-u-u, meow, woof-woof), as well as everyday noise (drip-drip, tink, chik-chik, tuk-tuk);
- sing songs to which you need to perform some movements (there are a lot of such songs both in Russian and in English).
Expanding vocabulary
For the development of speech to be harmonious and active, you should take care of the constant learning of new words. To do this, the child should read aloud children's books, poems and fairy tales. At the same time, the speech of the parents must be correct - simplified words are used only for communication with an infant of the first year of life or during classes with a 2-3-year-old child, if he does not speak at all.
If a son or daughter lisps, lisps or misses some letters, it is impossible to copy such speech in a conversation with a baby.
You need to talk a lot with a baby, encouraging the child to try to repeat what you said... Invite your child to supplement your sentences, for example, choose words to describe objects and phenomena that the baby sees. It can be a pen, a car, a tree, an animal, a product in a store, and so on.
Practice using diminutives, for example, a cat is a kitty, a chair is a chair, a ball is a ball. When naming animals, study the names of their cubs: a cat - kittens, a dog - puppies, a hare - hares, a bear - cubs. Also learn to form adjectives from nouns, for example, winter - winter, sun - sunny, wood - wooden. For such exercises, you should choose suitable pictures that will help the child quickly figure out what is required of him.
Perfectly stimulates speech and tongue twisters. These are small verses for 1-2 lines, in which a certain combination of sounds is repeated. Their pronunciation helps to improve diction, improve speech hearing, develop competent and clear speech.
Such tongue twisters are presented in large numbers in special children's literature. You need to start studying them with small poems.
At 6-7 years old, show your child pictures and offer to come up with stories from them. An interesting option would also be listening to some melody, after which you will share with your daughter or son the impressions that the music left. Study new poems weekly, discussing their meaning.
Speak different phrases, and in case of problems with individual sounds, pay attention to the games to recognize them.
For example, if the child does not pronounce “p” well, arrange a competition to find out more words for this letter. If the crumbs have difficulties with the sounds "zh" and "sh", repeat the words in which there are syllables zhi, zho, zha, zhu, same, sha, shi, shu, she.
Tips
- Never force your toddler to exercise so as not to discourage him. Try to keep your child interested in activities by choosing fun games.
- Do not keep the baby busy for a long time, otherwise even an interesting game will soon bore him. It is better to keep the tasks short (2-5 minutes), but frequent.
- You should not overreact to the failure of your child. You should treat it with understanding, not shout, but try to figure out the reason why this or that exercise does not work.
For an example of speech therapy games with children, see the video.
