Sound Development

The development of speech sounds varies from child to child. There is also a difference in the rate at which boys and girls acquire their sounds. According to the Nebraska/Iowa guidelines, the following norms represent the ages at which 90% of children can produce sounds correctly:

Age	GIRLS	BOYS
3	M, P, B, W, D, H	M, N, H, W, P, B
3 1/2	N, K, G, F (at the beginning of words)	T, D, K, F (at the beginning of words)
4	Y, T, TW, KW	G
4 1/2	TH (hard sound as in "this")
5	L (at the beginning of words)	Y, V
5 1/2	V, PL, BL, KL, GL, FL, F (at the end of words)	TW, KW, F (at the end of words)
6	SH, CH, J, L (at the end of words), TH (soft sound as in "thin")	PL, BL, KL, GL, FL, L (at the beginning of words)
7	S, Z, SP, ST, SK, SM, SW, SL, SKW, SPL, -NG (at the end of words)	S, Z, SH, CH, J, SP, ST, SK, SL, SM, SN, SW, SKW, SPL, L (at the end of words), -NG (at the end of words), TH (hard sound as in "this")
8	R (at the beginning of words), -ER (at the end of words), PR, BR, TR, DR, KR, GR, FR	R (at the beginning of words), -ER (at the end of words), TH (soft sound as in "thin"), PR, BR, TR, DR, KR, GR, FR
9	THR, SPR, STR, SKR	THR, SPR, STR, SKR