Saylo parent guides
Kids’ speech questions, answered
Updated
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Short, plain answers to the questions parents ask about their child’s speech, each based on research and guidance from speech-language professionals and linked to its sources. They’re general information: if you’re worried, a certified speech-language pathologist (SLP) can look at your child’s speech properly.
Is my child’s speech on track?
- Does my child need speech therapy?The signs speech therapists look for, and why it’s fine to ask early.
- How clear should my child’s speech be?How much of a 4 to 8-year-old’s speech strangers usually understand.
- Speech or language: what’s the difference?Saying sounds versus understanding and using words, and why it matters.
- Speech sounds by ageWhen most kids learn K, S, L, CH, SH, Z, R and TH.
Getting help
Practising between sessions
- How can I help my child’s speech at home?Low-pressure ways to practise sounds between therapy sessions.
- Why can my child say a sound in therapy but not at home?Carryover: the last and hardest step of speech sound therapy.
- Which speech practice tools actually help kids?Apps, games, word cards and everyday practice, and what to look for in each.
- How can we track speech practice between sessions?What to write down, how to share it with your SLP, and keeping it light.
Sound by sound
One guide for each of Saylo’s sound crew: when most children say the sound, common swaps, when to ask an SLP, and practice words.
My child can’t say the R soundMost children say R by about age 5½. Why kids say “wabbit” for “rabbit”, when to talk to a speech therapist, and gentle ways to practise at home.
My child has a lisp on the S soundMost children say S by about age 4. The difference between a frontal and a lateral lisp, when to see a speech therapist, and practice ideas.
My child can’t say the Z soundMost children say Z by about age 4¾. Why Z often lisps along with S, when to talk to a speech therapist, and practice words.
My child can’t say the SH soundMost children say SH by about age 4½. Common swaps like “sue” for shoe, when to talk to a speech therapist, and practice words.
My child can’t say the CH soundMost children say CH by about age 4½. Common swaps like “shair” or “tair” for chair, when to see a speech therapist, and practice words.
My child says “f” for the TH soundTH is the last sound most children learn, around age 6½. Why kids say “fumb” for thumb, when to talk to a speech therapist, and practice words.
My child can’t say the L soundMost children say L by about age 4½. Common swaps like “wion” or “yion” for lion, when to talk to a speech therapist, and practice words.
My child says “t” instead of KMost children say K by about age 3. Why kids say “tat” for cat (fronting), when to talk to a speech therapist, and practice words.
Looking for Saylo itself?
Saylo is building a private speech-practice necklace that helps kids work on therapist-selected sounds between sessions, without saving recordings. Read Saylo for parents, Saylo for speech therapists, how we handle privacy and safety, and the research behind it.