One of my most visited posts is my post on the Stages of Baby Babbling. It’s been so popular in fact, that I’ve decided to write a sequel of sorts to it. Another reason I’m writing this post is because lately I’ve received a lot of speech-related questions on Instagram about what a child should be able to do verbally at X age. Every question is legit and I totally get where every mom is coming from when they ask questions related about their child. Heck, you’d probably laugh at how many times I called our pediatrician’s nurse hotline when my girls were babies. We just want the best for our kids, right?
So, today I’m going to go over what your child should be able to hear and understand and what they should be able to say verbally by each age. I want to put a few things out there though before you scroll on down and find your child’s age. First, all of the information I am going to share today is taken directly from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for speech pathologists, audiologists, speech, language, and hearing scientists, etc. ASHA should be your number one source of information in relation to speech and language development and disorders. So, anytime you’re googling something, make sure you include “ASHA” in your search for the most accurate information (ex. “ASHA language disorder”).
Secondly, please know that these milestones are set as a general rule. Each child is very different and has so many varying factors in their lives that directly affect their speech and language development. Factors such as birth order, how many languages the child is acquiring, their personality, etc. So, before you get nervous or anxious about anything, seek out your pediatrician and rely on them as a good source of information. They can talk through any concerns with you!
As a reminder, today’s post will be focused on speech and language development for one to 5 year olds. If you’re more interested in language for ages birth to 12 months, check out my post on The Stages of Baby Babbling.
speech and language milestones in kids:
1-2 YEARS:
SPEECH:
- 50-100 words
- uses p, b, m, h, and w in words
- starts to name pictures in books
- asks questions like “what’s that?,” “who’s that?,” and “where’s kitty?”
- by 2 years, starts to put two words together – “more apple,” “no ball,” “mommy book”
HEARING/UNDERSTANDING:
- points to a few body parts when you ask
- follows 1-part directions like “kiss the baby” or “roll the ball”
- responds to simple questions like “who’s that?” or “where’s your shoe?”
- listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes
- points to pictures in a book when you name them
2-3 YEARS:
SPEECH:
- has a word for almost everything
- talks about things not in the room
- uses k, g, t, f, d, and n in words
- uses words like in, on, or under
- uses 2 or 3 words to talk about things or ask questions
- people you know can understand your child
- asks “why?”
- puts 3 words together to talk about things
HEARING/UNDERSTANDING:
- understands opposites like “stop and go” or “big and little”
- follows 2-part directions like “get the spoon and put it on the table”
- understands new words quickly
3-4 YEARS:
SPEECH:
- answer simple who, what, where questions
- says rhyming words like bat-cat
- uses plural words like toys, boys, buses
- most people can understand your child
- asks when and how questions
- puts 4 words together even if they make grammatical mistakes
- talks about what happened in their day (uses about 3-4 sentences at a time)
HEARING/UNDERSTANDING:
- responds when you call from another room
- understands words for some colors like blue, red, or green
- understands words for some shapes like circle and square
- understands words for family like sister, mom, dad, brother, etc.
4-5 YEARS:
SPEECH:
- says all speech sounds in words; may make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, and th
- responds to “what did you say?”
- talks with repeating sounds or words most of the time
- names letters and numbers
- uses sentences that have more than 1 action word like jump, play, and get
- tells a short story
- talks in different ways depending on the place and the listener
- may talk louder outside than inside
HEARING/UNDERSTANDING:
- understands words for order like first, next and last
- understands words for time like yesterday, today, and tomorrow
- follows longer directions like “put your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and then get in bed”
- follows classroom directions like “draw a circle on your paper around something you eat”
- hears and understands most of what she hears at home and school
things you can do to aid in speech/language development:
- use short, clear sentences when communicating
- repeat their misarticulated words or incorrect phrasing with the right way to say things (for example, if your child says “more baw” for “more ball,” you would say, that’s right “more ball”)
- teach your child new words – you can do this by labeling objects or reading
- talk, talk, talk – talk through the steps of all the things you do no matter how mundane they are; things like steps to folding laundry, steps to changing their diaper, etc.
- sing songs
- play “I spy”
- give your child 1 and 2-step directions
- let your child tell you how to do something
