{"id":378,"date":"2012-03-29T19:42:52","date_gmt":"2012-03-29T19:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/?p=378"},"modified":"2015-02-17T16:27:10","modified_gmt":"2015-02-18T00:27:10","slug":"how-to-teach-the-m-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/speech-therapy-techniques\/how-to-teach-the-m-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Teach the \u201cM\u201d Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Flashcards<\/a>

Image source: clearspeechtherapy.blogspot.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Babies often begin their initial explorations with sounds with the \u201cM\u201d sound. If your baby\u2019s first word was \u201cmama,\u201d he\u2019s not alone. Most children have command over this sound by the time they are two or three, if not earlier. If you think that your child might be displaying difficulties with the \u201cM\u201d sound, consult a speech-language pathologist (SLP) sooner rather than later. Although your child may not yet be old enough to go to school, you can still take advantage of free speech therapy with the Early Intervention<\/a> program.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The \u201cM\u201d Sound<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cM\u201d sound is nasal. This means that air travels through the nose, rather than the mouth. It is also a bilabial sound, like the \u201cP\u201d sound,<\/a> which means that it is formed by closing the lips. Say \u201cMama.\u201d Now try to say it without closing your lips for the second \u201cm.\u201d It turns into an \u201cN,\u201d doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Tactile Demonstration<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is often helpful for a child to learn sounds by engaging several senses. He can look at you for a visual demonstration and hear a verbal demonstration of the sound. He can also learn a sound with the sense of touch. To conduct a tactile demonstration of the \u201cM\u201d sound, have your child place his hand on your throat. Make the \u201cM\u201d sound. Your child will be able to feel your vibrating vocal cords. When you encourage him to make the sound himself, instruct him to place his hand lightly on his own throat to feel his vibrating vocal cords.<\/p>\n

\"Mother<\/a>

Image source: icanteachmychild.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Visual Demonstration<\/strong><\/p>\n

During a time when your child is well-rested, sit down with him. Have a handheld mirror handy. Engage him in a game of \u201cmonkey see, monkey do.\u201d Instruct him to copy your actions. Close your lips and point to them. Wait for him to do the same. Hold up the mirror so that he can see his closed lips.<\/p>\n

Verbal Demonstration<\/strong><\/p>\n

While your child is looking at his closed lips in the mirror, verbally demonstrate the \u201cM\u201d sound for him. Make the \u201cMmmmm\u201d sound with your closed lips, as if you were praising a particularly tasty recipe. If your child appears to be losing his interest, make a funny face and laugh at yourself. Encourage him to make the \u201cMmmm\u201d sound, followed by his own funny faces.<\/p>\n

Verbally demonstrate whole words that begin with \u201cM.\u201d Start with simple words like \u201cmama\u201d and \u201cmoo\u201d and progress to words like \u201cmelon,\u201d \u201cmagic,\u201d and \u201cmotor.\u201d Gradually, as your child masters single words, begin to demonstrate them in short, simple sentences. For example, say, \u201cMama bought milk and melons.\u201d Begin demonstrating words that do not begin with \u201cM,\u201d but that incorporate the letter elsewhere. Say words like \u201cyummy,\u201d \u201ctummy,\u201d and \u201csummer\u201d and encourage your child to repeat them.<\/p>\n

\"Speech<\/a>

Image source: chron.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Daily Activities<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to sitting down with your child regularly to practice the \u201cM\u201d sound, incorporate speech therapy into everyday activities. Children who might become bored with endless word repetitions might be more apt to practice the sound in a song. Search your local library for sound recordings of alphabet songs or create your own silly song. For example, sing about a monkey at the zoo who wanted to eat meatballs and marshmallows.<\/p>\n

Ask your child to help prepare dinner. Make a game out of finding as many ingredients that start with \u201cM\u201d as possible. When dinner is ready, praise it by saying \u201cMmmmm! Yummy in my tummy!\u201d On your next family road trip, make a game out of pointing out all the objects with the letter \u201cM\u201d that you and your child see. Point out moving vans, mountains, mailboxes, and machines for road repairs. In addition to these simple activities, ask your child\u2019s speech therapist about games that she uses in speech therapy so that you can do them at home as well.<\/p>\n \n \n \n \"Free<\/a>\n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Babies often begin their initial explorations with sounds with the \u201cM\u201d sound. If your baby\u2019s first word was \u201cmama,\u201d he\u2019s not alone. Most children have command over this sound by the time they are two or three, if not earlier. If you think that your child might be displaying difficulties with the \u201cM\u201d sound, consult […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[210,214,208,16,211,209,212,213],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speech-therapy-techniques","tag-articulation-disorder-therapy","tag-how-to-teach-the-m-sound","tag-how-to-teach-the-p-sound","tag-speech-therapy-techniques-2","tag-tactile-cues-for-m-sound","tag-teaching-specific-sounds","tag-verbal-demonstration-of-m-sound","tag-visual-demonstration-of-m-sound"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7588,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions\/7588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}