Do your children need to work on some of their speech sounds? Here are some fun "limericks" for them to say. This is a great way to work on articulation. Where applicable, each speech sound appears at the beginning, middle and end of the words within each limerick.
I will be adding more to this page in the future.
These limericks will only be useful when your children are developmentally ready to say the sounds. ie They are physically capable of making the sound. If your child is on the verge of conquering a speech sound, these limericks should help him to improve.
Above all, this should be fun. So ... enjoy!
B Sound /b/
Big Bob is biting bubbles.
D Sound /d/
David Dog is in the puddle.
F Sound /f/
Funny Fin the calf is laughing.
Hard G Sound /g/
The guinea pig wiggles his ears.
Soft G Sound /j/
Jolly John and Roger eat jam and sage.
H Sound /h/
Knee-high Holly has honey.
K Sound /k/
Kind Kim is kicking a rock.
L Sound /l/
Little Lizard is on the pillow.
M Sound /m/
Come here Timmy Mouse!
N Sound /n/
Now Nanny eats nine noodles.
P Sound /p/
Peter Pig is hopping on his cap.
Q Sound /q/
Quick Queen.
R Sound /r/
Ron Rabbit is furry.
S Sound /s/
Sally said "This castle is a mess!"
T Sound /t/
Tiny Tom is patting a little cat.
V Sound /v/
Vicky the vet is waving to Dave.
W Sound /w/
Wayne the white worm wiggles away.
X Sound /x/
Axe Exit.
Y Sound /y/
Yoyo Yak yells in the foyer.
Z Sound /z/
Busy Zoe Zebra says "Zap!"
Blends
Sh Sound
Shy Shane is washing fish.
St Sound
Stan the stork is lost in the dusty forest.
Th Sound
Cathy the thief took thirty bath toys.
Vowel Sounds
Short A Sound
Fat cat.
Short E Sound
Red leg.
Short I Sound
Big pig.
Short O Sound
Dog on a log.
Short U Sound
Hug a bug.
Long A Sound
Late Kate.
Long E Sound
Eat meat.
Long I Sound
High pipe.
Long O Sound
Go Boat!
Long U Sound
Loose Boot.
Footnote:
It's really important not to pressure your child. Improvement in speech comes from being developmentally ready to pronounce each sound and also by practising saying the sound/s. Children love learning and are naturally attracted to fun activities. By making speech practice fun, using limericks such as these and other ideas, your children will relish learning to talk more clearly.
Other fun ideas to improve speech are nursery rhymes, songs and telling stories.
The important thing is to keep your child talking. Fill his day with lots of interesting experiences and activities. The homeschooling environment is wonderful for improving speech. Your child is free to express himself whenever he wants to and he can constantly chat about what he is doing at the moment or what he wants to do next.
When your child makes an articulation error, encourage him to look at your mouth as you model the correct sound. He will naturally want to repeat the sound. This sounds really obvious, but doing this again and again is very helpful to your child.
Here are some of my favourite John Holt quotes regarding learning to speak:
"It is a remarkable business. We are so used to talking that we forget that it takes a very subtle & complicated coordination of lips, tongue, teeth, palate, jaws, cheeks, voice, & breath. Simply as a muscular skill it is by far the most complicated & difficult that most of us ever learn, at least as difficult as the skill required to master a serious musical instrument...
(How does the child learn to speak?)
The answer seems to be by patient & persistent experiment; by trying many thousands of times to make sounds, syllables, & words; by comparing his own sounds to the sounds made by people around him; & by gradually bringing his own sounds closer to the others; above all, by being willing to do things wrong even while trying his best to do them right."
"It can't be said too often: we get better at using words, whether hearing, speaking, reading, or writing, under one condition & only one - when we use those words to say something we want to say, to people we want to say it to, for purposes that are our own."
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