While children develop individually, there is a general pattern to children's sound development. Sucking, learning to bite and chew, as well as putting objects in their mouths are all important. These behaviours help children become aware of their mouth parts and to control and to change mouth positions. Their speech may become less clear if they are tired, unwell or excited. Songs, rhymes, play, books, talking and listening to other children all help them to sort out word and sound patterns.
Some children take extra time to blend sounds together, for example, tree, plane and desk.
Children learning more than one language Children in bilingual families, or who are learning more than one language, may need longer to learn sounds. This is because there may be extra sounds to learn for one language, and it takes time to use the correct sounds for each language. Reading, writing and spelling can help children to learn the difference between sounds. Learning to use sounds Children may make mistakes when they begin to talk. Sometimes children make several mistakes in one sentence.