Speech Sound Development by Age: What's Typical and When to Be Concerned
- Beth Morrant
- Mar 17
- 3 min read
When children develop their talking skills, their speech sounds develop gradually over time. Many parents, teachers and early years professionals notice children who pronounce words differently and wonder whether this is typical development or something then need to be concerned about.
Understanding speech sound development by age can help adults to recognise when children are developing their sound systems typically or whether they need a little extra support.
What are Speech Sounds?
Speech sounds are the individual noises or sounds articulated by us humans which are combined to make words. There are vowel sounds like ee, oo, ah and air, and a range of consonant sounds too like T, D, M, F, and TH. (Notice that these are sounds not graphemes). In linguistic terms each of these sounds is called a phoneme.
Children need to learn how to:
hear the difference between sounds
coordinate their mouths and breathing to make these sounds
produce the sounds clearly alongside other sounds in words
This process takes time, and not all sounds develop at the same age.
Speech sound development happens gradually
Some speech sounds develop quite early in childhood, while others develop later.
Early developing sounds include:
M, B, and D for "mumma" "bubba" "dadda".
These sounds are typically heard in children's speech and babble when they are toddlers.
Other sounds take longer to develop because they require more precise tongue movements or coordination. These include sounds such as R, TH and consonant blends like ST for star, TR for train or GL for glitter.
So it can be very common for younger children to pronounce some differently while their speech sound system is still developing.
For example a child might say:
"soo" instead of shoe
"wed" instead of red
"boo" instead of blue
These patterns can be part of typical speech sound development, particularly in the early years.
Why speech sound development matters for reading
Speech sounds are closely connected to early reading and phonics.
When children begin learning phonics, they are asked to listen carefully to sounds in words and match them to letters.
If a child says "soo" instead of shoe, they may write SOO because that is the sound pattern they hear when they say the word.
From the child's perspective, they are actually doing phonics correctly because they are simply writing what they hear.
This is why understanding speech sound development can be helpful for teachers, early years practitioners and parents supporting early reading.
Signs to listen for
Lots of variations in children's speech are part of normal development, however, there are some signs that adults might notice which suggest a child may benefit from extra support. These can include:
speech that is difficult for unfamiliar listeners to understand
children spelling words exactly as they pronounce them
frustration or reluctance to speak
speech sound patterns persisting longer than expected
Noticing these patterns early can help adults to provide the right support.
What adults can do to help
The good news is that many speech sound patterns improve naturally over time, especially when children hear lots of good examples of modelled speech in everyday conversation, supported opportunities to speak, making sure everyone has a turn and time to say their words, listening and talking during play and classroom activities.
Small everyday interactions often provide the most helpful opportunities for children to hear and practise speech sounds.
Learning more about speech sound development
Understanding speech sound development can make a big difference when supporting children with early reading and communication.
In my short training Speech Sounds and Phonics: What to Listen For and How to Help, I explain:
• what typical speech sound development looks like
• when speech patterns may affect phonics
• what teachers, early years professionals and parents can do to help
You can find out more about the training here:
