When would you expect a child to be able to say 'th' correctly?

[Judyandherdreamofhorses]

Just that really. When is it appropriate/ necessary to start correcting?

[Flibbedyjibbet]

My 3 year old quite often says "I'm feree" for three. Not sure when it should right itself but not worried at the moment.

[MillyONaire]

Marking my place as my 4.5 year old doesn't say hard c's or g's (Tar for car and Dreen for green) I'm quite relaxed about it as older dc corrected themselves as they got older and I think it's cute. I was offered speech therapy a year or so ago but I thought why bother - he's capable of saying them correctly (DP panics every so often and coaches him) but once they're gone that's it! But hope I'm right and not storing up grief for us later on

[Judyandherdreamofhorses]

These are older children I'm thinking of - year 2.

My 4.2 year old DD says 've' for 'the' still, but I'm pretty sure that's normal at that age. I'm starting to point out a few words she says incorrectly, like 'acause' for 'because' and 'at' for 'that'. Only by repeating the sentence with the correct word. I'd love to leave her saying 'war' for 'or' because she sounds so cute, but suppose I'd better not!

[Judyandherdreamofhorses]

It's the impact on spelling and reading I'm concerned about with the children I'm working with.

[CecilyP]

I doubt if it will have any lasting impact. Otherwise Cockneys wouldn't be able to spell all the simple little words beginning with 'th'. And many people learning English as an additional language never quite master this sound - even those whose English is otherwise excellent - they are still able to spell it, though.

[20wkbaby]

My DD 5.5 still says 've' for 'the' but understands the sound 'th' and can pronounce it correctly when sounding out words. Just seems to be a habit to keep the incorrect pronunciation as far as I can tell.

[Jellyandjam]

My 4. 10 year old has articulation disorder. According to the research I have been doing about this 'th' is typically mastered between the ages of 5-7 (often the later end for boys).

[TheSporkforeatingkyriarchy]

Many British accents replace /th/ sounds with other fricatives (/d/ /v/ /f/ is the most common), many adults raised in these areas cannot hear or say the difference unless someone else points it out and it seems to cause them very little trouble with reading and spelling. My DH is 29 and still can't say it properly, neither can many of his friends. My six year old still wobbles on it unless it is pointed out, my nine year is only just getting it confidently without it being so from tongue twister practice.

[BoundandRebound]

Around 7 on average

Children develop the ability to say different sounds at different ages

[imip]

Dd is 5.2 in y1. She has had 've' and lot sof similar speech quirks. As mentioned upthread, I find it impacting her spelling quite a lot. She's a good reader and this will hold her back. She also has problems with the letter 'p' saying 'jw' instead.

This, coupled with a handful of other quirks she has, have worried me. I recently went to the gp for further advice and he has referred her to child psychology. I want to get her speech right now, so that she can learn spelling correctly now.

[pinkmagic1]

I'm 34 and still can't say the 'th' sound. Has never caused me any problems with reading and writing.

[CecilyP]

Dd is 5.2 in y1

She is still very young in the writing and spelling stakes. If she never learns to pronounce if properly, though she probably will, she is unlikely to be unable to spell it correctly in the fullness time. The only thing that I have seen where pronunciation definitely effects spelling is with people who drop their aitches in speech then confuse is and his or as and has.

[yetanotherworry]

My dd had an phonological disorder. We were told that they don't actually worry about children not saying 'th' anymore as so many children without a speech problem say it this way.