Developmental milestones are the specific skills related to communication, fine motor, gross motor, cognitive (e.g. thinking), and self help (e.g. feeding/dressing) that children acquire as they grow and learn. A child’s genetics and environment will play a role in the rate and extent of a child’s development. Early intervention is critical if a parent or caregiver notices that certain skills are not present by a certain age. However, these milestones are a guideline and does not confirm that your child has a speech-language disorder if a skill is not yet developed. The American Speech-Language Hearing Association provides an excellent overview of typical speech-language development for children from birth-age 5:
What should my child be able to do?
| Hearing and Understanding |
Talking |
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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
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Birth–3 Months
- Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gooing)
- Cries differently for different needs
- Smiles when sees you
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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
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4–6 Months
- 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
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7 Months–1 Year
- 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 (e.g. “Come here” or “Want more?”)
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7 Months–1 Year
- 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 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
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1 year- 2 years of age
| Hearing and Understanding |
Talking |
- Points to a few body parts when asked.
- Follows simple commands and understands simple questions (“Roll the ball,” “Kiss the baby,” “Where’s your shoe?”).
- Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes.
- Points to pictures in a book when named.
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- Says more words every month.
- Uses some one- or two- word questions (“Where kitty?” “Go bye-bye?” “What’s that?”).
- Puts two words together (“more cookie,” “no juice,” “mommy book”).
- Uses many different consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
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2 years-3 years of age
| Hearing and Understanding |
Talking |
- Understands differences in meaning (“go-stop,” “in-on,” “big-little,” “up-down”).
- Follows two requests (“Get the book and put it on the table”).
- Listens to and enjoys hearing stories for longer periods of time
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- Has a word for almost everything.
- Uses two- or three- words to talk about and ask for things.
- Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n sounds.
- Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time.
- Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them.
- Asks why?
- May stutter on words or sounds
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3 years – 4 years of age
| Hearing and Understanding |
Talking |
- Hears you when you call from another room.
- Hears television or radio at the same loudness level as other family members.
- Understands words for some colors, like red, blue, and green
- Understands words for some shapes, like circle and square
- Understands words for family, like brother, grandmother, and aunt
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- Talks about activities at school or at friends’ homes.
- Talks about what happened during the day. Uses about 4 sentences at a time.
- People outside of the family usually understand child’s speech.
- Answers simple “who?”, “what?”, and “where?” questions.
- Asks when and how questions.
- Says rhyming words, like hat-cat
- Uses pronouns, like I, you, me, we, and they
- Uses some plural words, like toys, birds, and buses
- Uses a lot of sentences that have 4 or more words.
- Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words.
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4 years- 5 years of age
| Hearing and Understanding |
Talking |
- 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 pick out a book.”
- Follows classroom directions, like “Draw a circle on your paper around something you eat.”
- Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school.
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- Says all speech sounds in words. May make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say, like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, th.
- Responds to “What did you say?”
- Talks without 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. May make some mistakes, like “Zach got 2 video games, but I got one.”
- Tells a short story.
- Keeps a conversation going.
- Takes in different ways depending on the listener and place. May use short sentences with younger children or talk louder outside than inside.
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For more information about children’s typical speech-language development during elementary school age, check out this link:
For more information about children’s typical motor, social-emotional, sensory, and cognitive thinking skills see information provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics :
