Language Milestones Table
Age Speech and Language Development
Between birth • Make sounds other than crying
and 4 months, • React to loud sounds
infants may be
• Make sounds like “oooo”, “aahh” (cooing)
able to….
• Make sounds back when you talk to them
• Turn head towards the sound of your voice
• Communicate with their face and body
Between 4 • Take turns making sounds with you
and 6 months, • Blow “raspberries” (stick tongue out and blow)
infants may be
• Make squealing noises
able to….
Between 6 and • Make different sounds like “mamamama” and “babababa”
12 months, • Lift arms up to be picked up
infants may be
• Wave “bye-bye”
able to….
• Call a parent “mama” or “dada” or another special name
• Understand “no” (pauses briefly or stops when you say it)
• Attend to sounds and voices
• Recognize facial expressions and tones of voice
• Recognize names of a few objects
Between • Say a few words with one or two syllables, such as “ball” and “doggie,” by 12 months old
12 and 18 • Try to say one or two words besides “mama” or “dada,” like “ba” for ball or “da” for dog
months,
• Recognize the names of other family members and their favourite toys
toddlers may
be able to…. • Understand simple statements such as “all gone” and “give me.”
• Use a mix of made-up words and understandable words (sometimes called jargon)
• Point to their nose or eyes or other body parts when asked
• Point to ask for something or to get help
• Take turns vocalizing with others
• Recognize names of a few objects
• Follow one-step directions without any gestures, like giving you the toy when you say,
“Give it to me”
• Say the following sounds in words: /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/
Language Milestones Table
Age Speech and Language Development
Between • Say 20 or more words
18 and 24 • Start combining two or more words, such as “more peas” or “doggie run,”
months,
• toddlers may also be able to understand two-step instruction, such as “Can you please
toddlers may
bring me your shoes and sit down by me?”
be able to….
• Add words for important objects, people, or places, such as “bottle” or “dada”
• Try to say three or more words besides “mama” or “dada”
• Understand one key word in a sentence (e.g., Where’s your nose?)
• Point to things in a book when you ask, like “Where is the bear?”
• Say the following sounds in words: /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/
By 24 months • Use at least 50 words
(2 years), • Say two or more words together, with one action word, like “Doggie run”
older toddlers
• Name some body parts and familiar objects, such as “toy” or “cat”
may be
able to…. • Speak with a mix of made-up words and understandable words
• Repeat words they overhear, such as from adult conversations
• Be aware of rhyme
• Point to at least two body parts when you ask them to show you
• Learn to distinguish print from pictures
• Pretend to read when others are reading
• Use more gestures than just waving and pointing, like blowing a kiss or nodding yes
• Follow two-step corrections’ (e.g., Go to your room and get your shoes)
• Use 250-300 words by 2 years old
• Talk to themselves in long monologues
• Use pronouns like “I,” “me,” or “we”
• Say the following sounds in words: /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/
Language Milestones Table
Age Speech and Language Development
By age 3, • Learn new words quickly
preschoolers • Recognize and name common objects
may be
• Use plurals, such as “books” for more than one book
able to….
• Use pronouns (I, you, me, we, they)
• Say what action is happening in a picture or book when asked, like “running,” “eating,”
or “playing”
• Speak clearly enough for strangers to understand them
• Ask “who,” “what,” “where,” or “why” questions
• Understand most of what they hear
• Say minimum of 3-4 word sentences
• Have the ability to produce rhyme
• Say the following sounds in words: /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/
• Use 1000 words
• Talk to themselves in long monologues
• Write basic shapes (-,|,O)
• Begin to recognize numbers 1-5
• Learn to recognize and name letters
• Know some letter names and can identify 10 (usually if it’s in their name)
• Know that print is what you read
• Learn to recognize their name in print
• Recognize environmental print on signs
• and labels (e.g., reads the word ‘stop’ on a stop sign)
• Know to read from front to back
• Learn left-right progression of print
• Use concepts of position (down, under, on, off), size, and quantity, etc. (e.g., stop/go/
start, loud/quiet, heavy/soft, fast/slow, hot/cold)
Language Milestones Table
Age Speech and Language Development
By age 4, • Follow 3 part instructions (e.g., point to the cat, the dog and the monkey)
preschoolers • Understand longer, more complex sentences
may be
• Use sentences of 4 to 6 words
able to….
• Use nearly 1500 words
• Speak clearly enough for strangers to understand them
• Describe something that has happened to them
• Sing songs
• Tell a short story as well as recall parts of a story
• Say some words from a song, story, or nursery rhyme
• Talk about at least one thing that happened during
• their day, like “I played soccer.”
• Understand “how” questions
• Ask meanings of words
• Tell you the function or use of an object
• Answer simple questions like “What is a coat for?” or “What is a crayon for?”
• Say the following sounds in words: /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /f/,/s/, /y/, /h/, ‘sh’,
‘ch’, ‘j’, /z/, /l/, /v/
• Begin to speak in 3rd person (eg. “It eats grass”; “She reads books)
• Use position concepts: middle, around, away from, between, through, next to/
beside, last
• Use size concepts: short (length), short (height), tall, fat
• Use quantity concepts: 4, most, few
• Complete mastery of pre-writing shapes (-, |, O, +, /, square, \, X, triangle)
• Write their name
• Know some letter names and can identify 10 (usually if it’s in their name)
• Recognize and are able to write numbers 1-5
• Learn the alphabet song and understand that letters match sounds
• Learn to recognize and name letters
• Learn that letters ‘have’ sounds (e.g., grapheme-phoneme relationship awareness)
• Know that print is what you read
• Learn clusters of letters separated by space, form words
• Learn to recognize their name in print
• Recognize environmental print on signs and labels (e.g., reads the word ‘stop’ on a
stop sign)
• Know to read from front to back
• Learn left-right progression of print
Language Milestones Table
Age Speech and Language Development
By age 5, • Use about 2000 words and speak in sentences with at least five words
children may • Keep a conversation going with more than three back-and-forth exchanges
be able to….
• Understand relationships between objects, such as “the boy who is jumping rope”
• Use the future tense, such as “Let’s go to the zoo tomorrow!”
• Call people (or objects) by their relationship to others, such as “Bobby’s mom” instead
of “Mrs. Smith”
• Talk about or tell stories, with little or no trouble being understood by others.
• Answer simple questions about a book or story after you read or tell it to him
• Recognize words that rhyme and determine the odd word out (e.g., cat – hat – big)
• Recount things like their phone number, and the first and last names of family
members
• Identify first sound in a word (e.g., What’s the sound at the start of ‘dog’? d)
• Identify last sound in a word (e.g., What’s the sound at the end of ‘dog’? g)
• List words that start with the same sound (e.g., pet, pin)
• Tell which of three words is different (e.g., sit, sit, sat)
• Clap/count syllables in words (e.g., computer- com-pu-ter)
• Recognize and produce words with the same beginning sound (e.g., cat – cup)
• Segment/blend words by onset/rime (e.g., s+un= sun) OR can blend given sounds into
a word
• Count sounds in words (e.g., dog- d-o-g = 3 sounds)
• Blend 3 – 4 sounds to make a word (e.g., h – a – n – d = hand)
• Segment sounds in words that have 3 – 4 sounds (e.g., hand= h – a – n – d: 4 sounds)
• Use position concepts: in front, in a line, corner, middle
• Use size concepts: thin, thick, long, short, tall, small
• Use quantity concepts: 5 (emerging), pair
• Use other concepts: same, different (size), different (function),
• Use time concepts: yesterday, tomorrow, morning, afternoon, later
• Say the following sounds in words: /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /f/,/s/, /y/, /h/, ‘sh’,
‘ch’, ‘j’, /z/, /l/, /v/
• Learn alphabetic principle (e.g., words are made up of sounds; sounds can be
represented by letters)
• Learn all letter names and letter sounds for consonants
• Know all numbers
• Learn sounds for vowels
• Match letters to sounds (grapheme-phoneme correspondence)
• Learn to decode by identifying sounds for printed letters and synthesizing sounds
across letters to form words
• Learn some words by sight
• Read a few short, regularly spelled words (e.g., their names or their classmates’ names)
• Write basic words that are recognizable
• Begin to put sentences together
• Write regular words, by listening for the sounds, using the 42 letter sounds
Language Milestones Table
Age Speech and Language Development
By age 6, • Describe a favourite television show, movie, story, or other activity
children may • Speak with correct grammar most of the time
be able to….
• Spell their first name and can write some letters and numbers
• Read some simple words
• Blend 3 – 4 sounds to make a word (e.g., h – a – n – d = hand)
• Segment sounds in words that have 3 – 4 sounds (e.g., hand= h – a – n – d:4 sounds)
• Delete syllables from words (e.g., Say ‘cupcake’. Take away ‘cup’ and what is left?
cake)
• Substitute syllables in words
• Delete sounds from words (e.g., Say feet. Take away the ‘f’ sound from ‘feet’? eat)
• Substitute sounds in words (e.g., Say hat. Change the ‘h’ to a ‘c’ – cat)
• Give short oral reports
• Use language at a higher level to make jokes, tease, engage in sarcasm, argue point
of view, explain complex situations, talk about movies or past events in detail
• Develop written language skills and ability to write descriptive paragraphs and stories
• Show a higher Level of concepts: left, right, same, different, season, time of day
• Understand the difference between reality and fantasy
• Make predictions, justify decisions, provide solutions and give explanations
• Classify objects according to more specific traits (e.g., form, colour, use or
composition-what it is made of)
By age 7, • Say all of the speech sounds in words with no noticeable errors
children may • Tend to talk a lot in situations where they are comfortable
be able to….
• Pronounce words correctly (e.g., most children do not substitute the sound “fr” for “thr”
in words like “through”)
• Become better readers, but sounding out vowels may still be difficult
• Still have some difficulty with basic spelling
• Use phonological awareness skills when spelling
• Recognize similar letter/sound patterns within words
• List words that start with the same sound (e.g., pet, pin)
• Begin to learn conventions for punctuation, capitalization and other conventions
of print
• Write complete sentences, with punctuation
Language Milestones Table
Age Speech and Language Development
By age 8, • Show well-developed speech and use correct grammar most of the time
children may • Become interested in reading books
be able to….
• Delete syllables from words (e.g., Say cupcake. Take away ‘cup’ and what is left?
Cake’)
• Substitute syllables in words
• Delete sounds from words (e.g., Say feet. Take away the ‘f’ sound and what is
left? Eat)
• Substitute sounds in words (e.g., Say hat. Change the ‘h’ to a ‘c’ and what do you
have? Cat)
• Use phonological awareness skills when spelling
• Begin to learn conventions for punctuation, capitalization and other conventions
of print
• Begin to use alternative spellings in writing
• Write at least 2 sentences consecutively with appropriate grammar and punctuation
• Recognize more phonic patterns (e.g., silent ‘e’ rule)
• Focus more attention on comprehension when reading
• Move towards reading fluency
By age 9, • Read frequently and enjoy books
children may • Read with a goal of learning about something of interest
be able to….
• Show speech patterns that are nearly at an adult level
• Express their opinion
• Retell both imaginary and real events
• Listen for a sustained period of time (e.g., attend to a guest speaker at school)
• Express thoughts and ideas verbally and in written form with preciseness
• Show proficient reading fluency and comprehension
• Use different linking words in the right way (e.g., ‘because’, ‘then’, ‘now’, ‘when’,
‘before’, ‘while’ and ‘although’)
• Use different sentence types to present the same information
• Correctly use pronouns like ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’ when they’re telling a story
• Understand the difference between fact and theory – that is, the difference between
‘What happened?’ and ‘Why do you think … ?’
• Use compound sentences with words like ‘and’ or ‘but’ to join sentences together and
explain when one event depends on another (e.g., ‘Dan wants to play video games but
not until after Priya arrives’)
Language Milestones Table
Age Speech and Language Development
By 10 to 12 • Enjoy reading and may seek out magazines and books on subjects of special interest
years old, • Converse easily with people of all different ages
children may
• Have speech patterns that are nearly at an adult level
be able to….
• Follow 5 commands in a row
• Focus attention for about an hour
• Read independently in bed at night
• Have longer and more complex conversations
• Should have speech that is understandable by adults
• Write stories with a beginning, middle and end
• Use proper punctuation and grammar throughout writing
• Read chapter books
• Understand more abstract and symbolic ideas
• Use different language styles, use language to share ideas, predict and draw
conclusions, and understand other points of view
Sources:
Speech and Language Milestones
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