Speech Therapy includes several areas of speech development including: articulation, voice, vocabulary, and language. Each are is of equal importance for a child to develop proper speaking skills. Below are some basic guidelines for speech and language development.

Articulation
Articulation is the child's ability to pronounce the basic sounds that make up our language. If your child is does not meet the developmental stage described below, you should consult a speech professional.

Kindergarten

Should be able to produce these sounds	/m, b, p, n, t, d, k, g, w, h/ and all vowels
Should be learning to produce these sounds	/sh, ch, j, l, v, f, s, z, th, r/

First Grade

Should be able to produce all sounds correctly with the exception of	/r/
Pay close attention to production of the sounds	/l, th, s, r/

Second-Sixth Grade

Should be able to produce all sounds correctly
Pay close attention to production of the sounds	/l, th, s, r/

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Voice
Voice is an important part of speech therapy because it involves how your child is heard and understood. If children demonstrate any of the following voice problems they may have a speech problem:

• raspy, strained voice quality
• hoarse voice for an extended period of time
• abnormal resonance - nasalized sound production

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Vocabulary
As children learn to make different sounds, they should also be learning and using different words and phrases. Normal vocabulary development is as follows:

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Language
Language problems include those impairments that prevent children from speaking fluently. The most significant and common problem is stuttering. During the developmental years, children may develop language skills at different rates. Stuttering is often confused with language disfluencies in developing children.