“Be vewy vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits.” Why kids can’t say certain sounds.

Speaking is one of the most coordinated things our bodies do. To make all our sounds flow together, we have to coordinate our airflow, vocal cords, tongue, jaw, teeth, lips, and palate – just to name a few! Tiny changes turn a “b” into a “p” or an “sh” into a “ch.” Adults make hundred of these adjustments in a single sentence without even thinking about it!

Kids, on the other hand, take a while to learn how to produce all sounds and use them in conversation. Some sounds are easier (and develop earlier) than others. Some sounds take years to master.

Here are the sounds you can expect your child to use by their age:

• By two or three years old: p, b, m, d, t, n, k, g, ng, f, h, w, and y

• By four years old: v, s, z, sh, ch, l, and j

• By five years old: r, zh, and th (as in the)

• By six years old: th (as in throw)

Kids who are having difficulty producing the  sounds expected for their age may have difficulty being understood by less familiar adults and their friends. They may get frustrated because, despite their best efforts, their sounds just aren’t sounding right.

That’s when a Speech-Language Pathologist steps in. SLPs are trained to understand how sounds are produced and teach kids how to accurately and consistently use them. Speech therapy can take time (lots and lots of practice!), but our goal is to make kids feel confident speaking and understood by all!

For more information about our assessment process and therapy, please call us our Burlingame office at (650) 344-9961 or our Danville office at (925) 725-4632.