Learning to pronounce words properly takes time and practice. Here are some activities you can do with your child to help this process along:

• Provide good pronunciation examples by speaking slowly and clearly



• Sing together



• Read or make up rhymes with your child

All of these are a natural way to encourage good pronunciation.

It is important that you do not correct your young child. Simply repeat what your child has mispronounced, but with the emphasis on the correct pronunciation. For example, if your child says, "I wuv you," you say, "I love you, too." But try not to force anything by asking him to repeat it after you.

And lastly, never let anyone make fun of the way your child talks, or call her "stupid." Names like that can really hurt your child, and mispronunciation is a phase that many, many children go into and out of several times before learning the generally accepted way to pronounce words.