Tr and ch

[OT Essex]

Hi, can I start you off with a question?

My almost four year old son finds 'ch' and 'tr' difficult. He tends to say 'Sh' instead of ch (he likes a 'sheese' sandwich! And will say 'shr' instead of 'tr' (shrain not train).

At what age would you expect a child to say these sounds clearly?

Abi

[C&Dspeechies]

Hi Abi,

Thanks for your question. You will be glad to know that you have nothing to worry about. We do not expect children to master clusters until they are about 5 years old. These clusters of sounds tend to develop slightly later than single sounds as it takes increased coordination to combine the two consonant sounds together. It is likely that your son will begin to produce "ch" accurately at some time between 4 and 5 years while "tr" may develop slightly later, at around 5 years old.

Hope this helps,

Lizzie

[OT Essex]

Thank you, very helpful.