“Mmmmmmmm,” the \/m\/ sound. \u00a0A fun sound to teach, because even if your child isn’t using it correctly in all positions of words he\/she most likely uses or has played around with this sound. \u00a0“Ma-ma-ma-ma,” is usually one of the first sounds we hear our little kiddos babble because the \/m\/ sound is made by bringing the lips together which is one of the first motor skills our little ones learn. \u00a0If however, you feel you need to start from the very beginning I will walk you through the steps. \u00a0Here we go…<\/p>\r\n
How to Elicit the \/m\/ Sound:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 1. Model the sound yourself and encourage your little one to imitate you.<\/p>\r\n 2. Put your child’s hand on your mouth while you are making the sound so they can feel the vibrations, then put their hand on their own mouth and encourage them to try to make the sound.<\/p>\r\n 3. Have them watch themselves in the mirror to make sure they are bringing both lips together.<\/p>\r\n 4. If they have difficulty bringing their lips together because of low muscle tone it is time for some lip exercises. \u00a0If this is the case let me know and I’ll give further suggestions.<\/p>\r\n Practice the \/m\/ Sound in Syllables:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Put the \/m\/ sound in front of all the long and short vowels, may, me, my, mow and moo. \u00a0Then practice the \/m\/ sound at the end of the vowels, um, am, im, om, em and finally in the middle of the vowels, imo, aymu, ema, omee … you get the idea.<\/p>\r\n If your child can successfully say the \/m\/ at the beginning of syllables then they are ready to practice the sound at the beginning of words.<\/p>\r\n Practice the \/m\/ Sound in Words:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n If your child can say the syllables above with a nice \/m\/ sound then he is ready to move them into words. Below are 3 links to download picture cards of words beginning with the \/m\/ sound, ending with the \/m\/ sound or with \/m\/ occuring in the middle. You can also download these along with worksheets for other sounds on the\u00a0free downloads page<\/a> page.<\/p>\r\n\r\n