DS2 (5) is getting 'th', 'f' and 'v' muddled - how can we help him?

[gameboy]

He really seems to be getting his tongue all tied up, so says

"fink" (think)
"hathe" (have)
etc

The problem is that it's affecting his spelling now too...

wRITE THEM EACH ON LITTLE PIECES OF PAPER and work on it receptively first.

ie You say 'Show me 'th'

When you are confident that he can correctly hear them,turn it into a productive exercise. That is, point to one of them and say 'What is this?'

Huge cheers whwn he gets it right. (maybe a chocolate for 1 0 correct or something.

You can also make pictures for what we call 'minimal pairs (am a salt btw)

'vat'/'that'

'Fin'/'Thin'

And so on

wRITE THEM EACH ON LITTLE PIECES OF PAPER and work on it receptively first.

ie You say 'Show me 'th'

When you are confident that he can correctly hear them,turn it into a productive exercise. That is, point to one of them and say 'What is this?'

Huge cheers whwn he gets it right. (maybe a chocolate for 1 0 correct or something.

You can also make pictures for what we call 'minimal pairs (am a salt btw)

'vat'/'that'

'Fin'/'Thin'

And so on

He's 5 - it'll sort itself out in time. Just repeat the word back in a very low key way. "I fink I'll hathe a sandwich" says ds "Oh, so you think you'll have a sandwich? Ok, cheese or ham?" says gameboy.

The th on can sometimes be helped by telling the child to put thier tongue out whe they are saying the sound. Unaccountably they seem to enjoy that........

Actually, contrar to popular belief,the tongue does not protrude with 'th' words 9other wise it would stop your convesation mid flow). i t actually makes very fleeting contact with the the back of your teeth.

That's interesting, moondog - sorry for misleading the OP. I was just quoting what I was told to do to get rid of my lisp about 100 years ago!

And just to reassure gameboy, my ds wrote "Hapy burfdy Efan" in a card at 5 - now at nearly 7 he is still inclined to say "f" for "th" because most people in his class say it like that here in deepest Kent! His spelling is fine though - he sorted out the difference towards the end of year 1, I think.

Thanks for these responses. Interesting about the 'th' sound, and NOt putting tongue out - that's really helpful Moondog.

Are you aware of any (ideally free!) resources e.g. cards etc anywhere?

His school does speech & drama classes in Jan which I was thinking of signing him up for, as they might help?
They're nothing too demanding - mostly just reading rhymes and learning to speak up etc.
He does have a tendency to get excited and 'fall over' his words qute a lot - I expect it's because he feels he's always competing with his older, highly eloquent, big brother

Just wait. It won't be a problem by the time he's ten (unless you live in Essex, in which case he'll say "I fink" for ever) and it doesn't really matter when things sort themselves. Meanwhile, phone a "Cute Kids" modelling agency and book him in!

Sift through this lot

Seeker your advice was spot on and what I would say 99% of the time.

Just felt energetic enough to suggest somethnig else too which ties in with reading and writing.

Uber is right too.

I don't really do any of this sort of work..precisely because it does generally resolve itself.