Speech help for 3 year old

[eviscerateyourmemory]

My 3.9 year old DD has some delay in her ability to pronounce certain letters correctly - she struggles with f,v and somethimes th and sh sounds. She does sound 'younger' than other children of her age.
She has no other issues with understanding or general level of development.

She has just been referred to a speech therapist, but I wondered if there was anything else that we could do in the mean time to help her - if she gets words wrong we do try to show her how to pronounce it correctly, but it can be hard to always explain this in a way that she can understand (which I think is down to us not always managing to explain it well!).

Also, are there any books or other resources that might help us to help her a bit?

Thanks

Tbh, I wouldn't be overly concerned if it's only those sounds she's struggling with (and I speak as an Infant teacher and as a Mum of a 3.9 year old). It's fairly common for those sounds to develop a little later.

As for helping her, I would say that providing a good model is the most important thing, without making her self conscious of it. So, for example, she says "Mummy, there's a dish" (and you know she means fish), just repeat back "oh yes, there's a fish".

Thanks tigerlion. I do try to do the modelling thing, but I dont always remember to do it.
DD can make the sounds appropriately when she concentrates, she just doesnt always focus on the pronounciation.

It sounds like you're doing all the right things then. I really wouldn't worry too much at this stage. Good luck!

Sounds very like my DD who is also 3. If she thinks about her speech she can talk quite clearly but if not, her sounds can be quite unclear. I am also used to having to model her words and even her sentences back to her.

She also struggles with sh,ch and s. I'm less worried about th and r because even my 6 yr old hasn't mastered these yet and he has great speech!

We have had some speech therapy but were signed off because she could make all the appropriate sounds for her age and we were helping her by modeling the correct sounds back. I may ask for a re-referral if things haven't sorted themselves out by reception year.

Thanks 1percent, hopefully it will just come in time. My DD is meant to be starting school next year, and while she seems able to start in other ways I am concerned that she wont manage well if she is difficult to understand. Hopefully in the next few months she will improve.