It’s very common for parents to be concerned about their child’s language development and specifically wonder, “What sounds should my child be making?” A child’s development of consonants generally follows a sequence that is common among all children.  There is however, variation between individual children and the specific age at which they acquire the various sounds.

 -90% of children master the following sounds by the ages listed:

3 years old                      p,m,h,n,w

 4 years old                      b,k,g,d,f,y

 6 years old                      t,ng,r,l

 7 years old                      ch,sh,j,voiceless th (as in “think”)

 8 years old                      s,z,v,zh,voiced th (as in “this”)

What should I do if I think my child is having trouble with his/her sounds? Contact a Speech Language Pathologist to discuss your child’s sound development and possible need for a screening or complete articulation evaluation.