Speech Sounds For Kids - USA 1.3

Speech Sound for Kids is an iPad application designed to enhance phonemic awareness, auditory discrimination, and speech sound production through a multi-sensory approach. This app offers numerous hours of engaging speech therapy and early literacy activities.

Targeted primarily at children aged 4 to 7, the app may also be beneficial for younger or older users, depending on their specific needs. It facilitates the production and exploration of the 22 consonant sounds of English, employing a multi-sensory strategy that encourages interaction and engagement. Notably, results can be recorded and shared with therapists or educators, making it a valuable tool for home practice.

Each sound is represented by a charming character known as a Sound Buddy. These characters assist children in identifying, discriminating, and producing each sound while introducing foundational letter links. The application places a significant emphasis on developing both phonemic and articulatory awareness.

The program includes animated stories, instructional videos demonstrating mouth movements for each sound, and hand cues to reinforce learning. Children have the opportunity to record their own sounds or words and listen back to evaluate their progress—these recordings can be saved for tracking improvement over time.

Engaging games are an integral aspect of the app, including activities such as “Touch when you hear the sound,” “Who said that sound?” and various matching games that present multiple levels of difficulty. With continued use, children become familiar with an increasing number of Sound Buddies, enhancing their phonemic awareness and accurate speech sound production. Tasks are designed to target both single sounds and sounds within words, utilizing more than 300 entertaining pictures for word practice.

The app's structure allows for the integration of multiple sounds in combined tasks after individual study, fostering a deeper understanding of similarities and distinctions between sounds. Phonemic awareness is critical for reading and spelling development; by recognizing individual sounds within words, children are better equipped to associate them with their corresponding letters. Additionally, articulatory awareness—understanding the physical requirements of producing each sound—can significantly benefit children who encounter reading challenges.

Goals of the App:

1. Facilitate learning about and practicing specific sounds necessary for clear speech.
2. Enhance children's phonemic awareness, crucial for speech therapy and a strong predictor of literacy success.
3. Increase children's articulatory and auditory awareness of phonemes to support those with reading difficulties.

Scope of the App:

1. Identify and produce specific sounds represented by Sound Buddies.
2. Recognize and articulate specific sounds at the beginning of words.
3. Distingish and produce various sounds within sets being studied.
4. Identify different sounds in the initial position within words from studied sets.
5. Build a repertoire of familiar sounds identifiable as single units or within initial word positions.

The application is available in a North American English version but also offers an Australian voice variant through the App Store.