R Sound Articulation Therapy: A Guide for Parents

This article focuses on the R consonant sound and how your child can use our app to practice saying it correctly. Download the app and start your at-home practice today.

As a speech therapist, I can tell you that though the R sound is commonly used in the English language, it is also one of the trickiest. In fact, the R sound is one of the last sounds to be mastered by children. And though it begins to emerge at 3-years-of-age, it often only matures at the ages of 6 or 7.

What is the /R/ Sound?

As already mentioned, the /r/ sound is one of the hardest sounds to master. Children usually master it by the ages of 6-7. Whether a child struggles with the pre-vocalic /r/ (where the R is produced at the beginning of a word) or the vocalic /r/ (when the R sound is produced after a vowel), many speech therapists agree that it can be one of the most challenging sounds to teach. With that being said, there are many tips we can use to help a child practice their /r/ sound.

The key to helping your child correctly say the /r/ sound is to look at three important oral structures used in speech: the lips, the tongue, and the throat.

The Lips

When producing the /r/ sound, we want to make sure to have our lips more in a neutral position or more of a square shape. Some SLPs may also have a child smile.

The Tongue

We can produce the /r/ sound using two tongue positions: 

The Throat

The upper part of the throat right behind the tongue, also known as the pharynx, must constrict or tighten in order for the correct R sound to be produced. The vocal cords need to vibrate to produce the sound correctly.

Check out the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_OQjKLvt0E

After watching the video, open our app and practice the words that include the R consonant in them.

Teaching the R Consonant Sound to Your Child

Explain to your child that you are going to practice saying the R sound, like in the word “rabbit.”

Tell your child that when they say the R sound in “rabbit” you’d like to see their lips make an “O” shape. Make sure you show them how if they don’t understand.

Next, to get your child’s tongue in the correct placement position, tell them that their tongue needs to create a hump in the middle of their mouth like a little hill.

This is so that when they say the R sound in “rabbit,” they can pretend that there is a little rabbit hopping over the hill in their mouth to get outside. If there’s no hill, then there’s no correct R sound and the rabbit can't get out.

Lastly, explain to your child that they need to tighten the back part of their throat so that they can push enough air up into their mouth and along their tongue in order to help the rabbit jump over the hill.

Once they can correctly say the R consonant sound in isolation, follow the articulation error hierarchy which you can read about in this article, or watch in this video.

Some Mo/r/e T/r/icks

The lips

Tell your child to make a “fish face” to help them achieve the correct “O” lip placement. This can become a game to see who can make the funniest face while moving their lips into the correct position.

If this doesn’t work, exaggerate sticking your lips out and telling them to copy you or use a mirror so they can see their own progress. Once they can do this you can refine the positioning of their lips into the correct “O” shape.

Visual cueing and modeling are powerful learning aids that can be used in where you say the correct R consonant sound while your child imitates what your lips are doing. Our app is a wonderful imitation tool, as it develops your child’s articulation skills and other desirable behaviors by promoting learning through watching video demonstrations given by real kids. Download the app for iOS or Android devices.

You can read more about video modeling and imitation by reading the following article: Mirror Neurons, Video Modeling, and Your Child's Speech.

The Tongue

Physically showing your child where to place their tongue is very effective. Most children who experience difficulty with the R sound are unable to position their tongue correctly because it all happens behind the visual barrier of the front teeth. This can also make it quite frustrating for them.

Once you have reached the word level and are practicing words that start with the R consonant sound, touch the tip of your child’s tongue with your finger or a tongue depressor and tell them that you want them to lift that part up as far as they can without touching the roof of their mouth.

Once you have reached the word level and are practicing words that have the R consonant sound in other places, touch the middle of your child’s tongue with your finger or a tongue depressor and tell them that you want them to lift that part up to create an arch without touching the roof of their mouth.

The Throat

Have your child gargle with water to help them learn how to tighten their throat muscles the way they would when correctly saying the R consonant sound.

You can also draw their attention to this kind of throat tightening by having them drink through a straw and explaining how the muscles work.

When your child says the R sound, place their hand on their neck to feel the vibration made by their vocal cords. If they have trouble creating this vibration, then place their hand on your throat to show them how it’s done. Pretend that the vibration is the “rabbit” hopping. If there’s no vibration, then the “rabbit” isn’t hopping and he can’t get out.

To assist with the voicing and correct articulation of the R consonant sound, tell your child to pretend that they are growling like an angry dog. You can also turn this into game by seeing who can come up with the scariest or funniest growl.

More tips and tricks

How to Play Articulation Bingo?

Use Speech Blubs app every day for at least 5-10 minutes to achieve the best results.

If you’re worried about your child’s ability to say the R consonant sound or have any other concerns about their pragmatics, comprehension, or talking, use our free screener within the app. Our speech and language pathologist-developed tool will even give you a personalized report with actionable advice with the results.

For more information about the app visit our FAQ section or write to us. Know that you have an ally in Speech Blubs and that our biggest success is seeing your child achieve their greatest potential.

If your child has difficulties with other sounds, here are the articles that can help you with speech therapy, speech exercises, and articulation activities ideas: