Teaching the 'CH', 'J' and 'ZH' Sounds

TEACHING THE ‘CH’ AND ‘J’ and ‘ZH’ SOUNDS



The ‘CH’, ‘J’ and ‘ZH’ (as in ‘treasure’) sounds are all produced in roughly the same place as the ‘SH’ sound.  So once your child masters the ‘SH’ sound, these other sounds are easier to teach.

 For the ‘CH’ sound, have your child make the ‘SH’ sound, then tell him to touch his tongue to the roof of his mouth while he’s making ‘SH’.  That will stop the flow of air, but if continues to try to make ‘SH’ while holding his tongue to the roof of his mouth, it will turn into a ‘CH’ sound.  Or you could ask the child what sound a train makes and see if he makes the ‘CH’ sound at the beginning of ‘choo-choo’ on his own!
 
The ‘J’ sound is just like the ‘CH’ sound except you turn your voice on.  Have the child touch his hand to his neck to feel it vibrate when his voice is on (like humming) when he makes the ‘CH’ sound.  If the voice is on, it turns into ‘J’.

The ‘ZH’ sound is like the ‘SH’ sound except the voice is on.  So do the same steps as above, only start with ‘SH’.

Good luck!

Teaching the 'TH' Sound

TEACHING THE ‘TH ’ SOUND 

The ‘TH’ sound is somewhat easy to teach because it is easy to see whether the child is putting her tongue between her teeth or not.  Model the sound for the child, saying “Just put your tongue between your teeth a little bit and blow”.  

You can hold up a mirror for the child to see whether the tongue is in the right place or not.
There are two types of ‘TH’ sounds – a voiced ‘TH’, like the sound in the word ‘THE’, and an unvoiced ‘TH’, like the sound in the word ‘THUMB’.  Tell the child that a voiced sound is when you can feel your neck vibrate because you are making a humming sound while you blow.

The best way to practice the ‘TH’ sound is to first practice making the sound by itself, then in words, then in sentences.  


Good luck!