The need to impress upon a young child the benefits of speaking with supreme precision and articulation cannot be overstated. Such skills can be developed by using phonics, letter sounds, and consonants, all of which can be attained by repeating tongue twisters; one such tongue twister is Peter Piper. By stating the letter sounds and consonants of Peter Piper over and over, and at faster rates each time, the phonics involved in the story can be absorbed. Like an athlete looks to improve his/her mechanics by repeatedly practicing their sport, a young child can acquire better pronunciation by repeatedly practicing words. It’s called muscle memory.
The phonics required to repeat the following tongue twister, “Peter Piper picked a pail of pickled peppers…”, specifically involve the hard consonants of those letter sounds. The ability of a young person to master the complexities of articulation is a talent that will continue to serve that person well all throughout life.
For a parent to instill in his/her young child the importance of repeating those tactile letter sounds that compose tongue twisters is really only half the problem, however. With a base knowledge of phonics and the making of consonant sounds in hand, a parent can then begin instilling a wider knowledge of, say, vocabulary. From this point forward, the world is the child’s oyster. Having been incessantly repeating particular tongue twisters for years upon years, while also learning of the world and of new and engaging vocabulary words for years upon years, the child has now grown older and developed into a well-spoken adult.
As a parent, you can now begin patting yourself on the back because you’re the one who started the child on the path to successful articulation. Your child now has knowledge of the world and of big words with which to describe these very insights. And after having raised such a well-spoken person with worldly insights and impeccable pronunciation, all anyone is left to say is, “Thanks, parent!! It all started with you…and with your insistence on practicing the tongue twister, Peter Piper!”