Speech and Language Milestones
3-4 YEARS
-Understands object function
-Understands differences in meanings (stop-go, in-on, big-little)
-Follows 2 and 3 part commands
-Asks and answers simple questions (who, what, where, why)
-Frequently asks questions and often demands detail in responses
-Produces simple verbal analogies
-Uses language to express emotion
-Uses 4 to 5 words in sentences
-Repeats 6- to 13 syllable sentences accurately
-Identifies objects by name
-Manipulates adults and peers
-May continue to use echolalia
-Uses up to 6 words in a sentence
-Uses nouns and verbs most frequently
-Is conscious of past and future
-Has a 1,200-2,000 or more word receptive vocabulary
-Has a 800-1,500 or more word expressive vocabulary
-Increases speech rate
-Masters 50% consonant and blends
-Speech is 80% intelligible
-Sentence grammar improves, although some errors still exist
-Uses is, are, and am in sentences
-Tells two events in chronological order
-Engages in long conversations
-Uses some contractions, irregular plurals, future tense verbs, and conjunctions
-Consistently uses regular plurals, possessives, and simple past tense verbs
4-5 YEARS:
-Imitatively counts to 5
-Understands concept of numbers up to 3
-Continues understanding of spatial concepts
-Recognizes 1 to 3 colors
-Has a receptive vocabulary of 2,800 or more words
-Counts to 10 by rote
-Listens to short, simple stories
-Answers questions about function
-Uses sentences of 4 to 8 words
-Answers complex 2-part questions
-Asks for word definitions
-Speaks at a rate of approximately 186 words per minute
-Reduces total number of repetitions
-Enjoys rhymes, rhythms, and nonsense syllables
-Produces consonants with 90% accuracy
-Significantly reduces number of persistent sound omissions and substitutions
-Frequently omits medial consonants
-Speech is usually intelligible to strangers
-Talks about experiences at school, at friends' homes, etc.
-Accurately relays a long story
-Pays attention to a story and answers simple questions about it
-Uses some irregular plurals, possessive pronouns, future tense, reflexive pronouns, and comparative morphemes in sentences
6-7 YEARS
-Names some letters, numbers, and currencies
-Sequences numbers
-Understands left and right
-Uses increasingly more complex descriptions
-Engages in conversation
-Has a receptive vocabulary of approximateley 20,000 words
-Uses a sentence length of approximately 6 words
-Undersands most concepts of time
-Recites the alphabet
-Counts to 100 by rote
-Uses most morphologic markers appropriately
-Uses passive voice appropriately