Speech/Language Developmental Milestones:
| Birth-3 months |
Startles to loud sounds |
| Quiets or smiles when spoken to | |
| Seems to recognize your voice and quiets if crying | |
| Increases or decreases sucking behavior in response to sound | |
| Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gooing) |
|
| Cries differently for different needs | |
| Smiles when he/she sees you | |
| 4-6 months |
Moves eyes in direction of sounds |
| Responds to changes in tone of your voice | |
| Notices toys that make sounds | |
| Pays attention to music | |
| |
Babbling sounds more speech-like with many different sounds, including p, b, and m |
| Chuckles and laughs | |
| Vocalizes excitement and displeasure | |
| Makes gurgling sounds when left alone and when playing with you | |
| 7-12 months |
Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake |
| Turns and looks in direction of sounds | |
| Listens when spoken to |
|
| Recognizes words for common items, like "cup", "shoe", "book", or "juice" | |
| Begins to respond to requests (i.e., "Come here" or "Want more") | |
| Babbling has both long and short groups of sounds, such as "tata upup bibibibi" | |
| Uses speech or noncrying sounds to get and keep attention | |
| Uses gestures to communicate (waving, holding arms out out to be picked up) | |
| Imitates different speech sounds | |
| Has one or two words (hi, dog, dada, mama) around first birthday, although sounds may not be clear | |
| 1-2 years |
Understands "no" |
| Uses 10-20 words, including names | |
| Combines two words, such as "daddy bye-bye" | |
| Waves goodbye and plays pat-a-cake |
|
| Makes the "sounds" of familiar animals | |
| Gives a toy when asked | |
| Uses words such as "more" to make wants known | |
| Points to his/her eyes, nose, and toes | |
| Brings object from another room when asked | |
| 2-3 years |
Identifies body parts |
| Carries on "conversation" with self and dolls | |
| Asks "What's that?" and "Where's my?" | |
| Uses two word negative phrases, such as "no want" | |
| Forms some plurals by adding "s" | |
| Has a 450 word vocabulary | |
| Gives first name, holds up fingers to tell age | |
| Combines nouns and verbs, such as "Mommy go" | |
| Understands simple time concepts: "last night", "tomorrow" | |
| Refers to self as "me" rather than by name | |
| Tries to get adult attention: "Watch me" | |
| Likes to hear same story repeated | |
| May say "no" when he/she means "yes" | |
| Talks to other children as well as adults | |
| Solves problems by talking rather than hitting or crying | |
| Answers "where" questions | |
| Names common pictures and things | |
| Uses short sentences like "Me want more" or "Me want cookie" | |
| Matches 3-4 colors, knows big and little | |
| 3-4 years |
Can tell a story |
| Has a sentence length of 4-5 words | |
| Has a vocabulary of nearly 1000 words | |
| Names at least one color | |
| Understands "yesterday", "summer", "lunchtime", "tonight", "little-big" | |
| Begins to obey requests like "Put the block under the chair" | |
| Knows his/her last name, name of street on which he/she lives, and several nursery rhymes | |
| 4-5 years |
Has sentence length of 4-5 words |
| Uses past tense correctly | |
| Has a vocabulary of at least 1500 words | |
| Points to colors red, blue, yellow, and green | |
| Identifies triangles, circles, and squares | |
| Understands "in the morning", "next", and "noontime" | |
| Can speak of imaginary conditions, such as "I hope" | |
| Asks many questions, asks "who" and "why" | |
| 5-6 years |
Has a sentence length of 5-6 words |
| Has a vocabulary of around 2000 words | |
| Defines objects by their use (you eat with a fork) and can tell what objects are made of | |
| Knows spatial relations like "on top", "behind", "far", and "near" | |
| Knows his/her address | |
| Identifies a penny, nickel, and dime | |
| Knows common opposites like "big/little" | |
| Understands "same" and "different" | |
| Counts ten objects | |
| Asks questions for information | |
| Distinguishes left and right hand on self | |
| Uses all types of sentences (i.e., "Let's go to the store after we eat.") |
