Should I correct my child's speech errors?

A Facebook friend asked me this week, "Should I correct my child's errors for the /th/ sound? My child seems to get frustrated easily, but I know he can say it." I was asked how to proceed. This was my response:

Hey XXX-

 This question comes up often from the parents of my school students. Don't worry about correcting him in conversation if it is making him feel anxious. He may not be ready yet for saying th in conversation. Mastering speech sounds follows a continuum. It begins first in isolation, then moves to words, then to phrases and sentences, and onto reading and conversation. When your child is talking to you, he is probably answering questions in conversation or connected speech and may not be able to maintain thinking about his words and maintaining the /th/ at the same time. He can probably produce his sounds in words, but really is not able to say it in connected speech practice yet. If you want to continue to practice at home practice with him (do it with words). Have him try to practice words after you and pair it with a game (he gets a turn when he says it 1-2 times). Again don't worry yet about practicing in conversation until later. Hopefully you both will feel less stress. Thank you for asking about this!


Here also is visual that shows how Articulation progresses:

Download the visual here at our TPT store Click Here