• SPEECH AND LANGUAGE MILESTONES

    Language Development Chart

     

    Age of Child Typical Language Development
    6
    Months    		 Vocalization with intonation
    Responds to his name
    Responds to human voices without visual cues by turning his head and eyes
    Responds appropriately to friendly and angry tones
    12
    Months    		 Uses one or more words with meaning (this may be a fragment of a word)
    Understands simple instructions, especially if  vocal or physical cues are given
    Practices inflection
    Is aware of the social value of speech
    18
    Months    		 Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words
    Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns
    Some echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over)
    Much jargon with emotional content
    Is able to follow simple commands
    24
    Months    		 Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings
    Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under
    Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words
    Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible
    Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words
    Rhythm and fluency often poor
    Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled
    Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often confused
    My and mine are beginning to emerge
    Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)"
    36
    Months    		 Use pronouns I, you, me correctly
    Is using some plurals and past tenses
    Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under
    Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if not name
    Handles three word sentences easily
    Has in the neighborhood of 900-1000 words
    About 90% of what child says should be intelligible
    Verbs begin to predominate
    Understands most simple questions dealing with his environment and activities
    Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with reason
    Able to reason out such questions as "what must you do when you are sleepy, hungry, cool, or thirsty?"
    Should be able to give his sex, name, age
    Should not be expected to answer all questions even though he understands what is expected
    48
    Months    		 Knows names of familiar animals
    Can use at least four prepositions or can demonstrate his understanding of their     meaning when given commands
    Names common objects in picture books or magazines
    Knows one or more colors
    Can repeat 4 digits when they are given slowly
    Can usually repeat words of four syllables
    Demonstrates understanding of over and under
    Has most vowels and diphthongs and the consonants p, b, m, w, n well established
    Often indulges in make-believe
    Extensive verbalization as he carries out activities
    Understands such concepts as longer, larger, when a contrast is presented
    Readily follows simple commands even thought the stimulus objects are not in sight
    Much repetition of words, phrases, syllables, and even sounds
    60
    Months    		 Can use many descriptive words spontaneously-both adjectives and adverbs
    Knows common opposites: big-little, hard-soft, heave-light, etc
    Has number concepts of 4 or more
    Can count to ten
    Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems
    Should have all vowels and the consonants, m,p,b,h,w,k,g,t,d,n,ng,y (yellow)
    Should be able to repeat sentences as long as nine words
    Should be able to define common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair)
    Should be able to follow three commands given without interruptions
    Should know his age
    Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later, after, while
    Tomorrow, yesterday, today
    Should be using fairly long sentences and should use some compound and some    complex sentences
    Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct
    6 
    Years    		 In addition to the above consonants these should be mastered: f, v, sh, zh, th,1
    He should have concepts of  7
    Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful
    Should be able to tell one a rather connected story about a picture, seeing relationships
    Between objects and happenings
    7 
    Years    		 Should have mastered the consonants s-z, r, voiceless th, ch, wh, and the soft g as in George
    Should handle opposite analogies easily: girl-boy, man-woman, flies-swims, blunt-sharp short-long, sweet-sour, etc
    Understands such terms as: alike, different, beginning, end, etc
    Should be able to tell time to quarter hour
    Should be able to do simple reading and to write or print many words
    8 
    Years    		 Can relate rather involved accounts of events, many of which occurred at some time in  the past
    Complex and compound sentences should be used easily
    Should be few lapses in grammatical constrictions-tense, pronouns, plurals
    All speech sounds, including consonant blends should be established
    Should be reading with considerable ease and now writing simple compositions
    Social amenities should be present in his speech in appropriate situations
    Control of rate, pitch, and volume are generally well and appropriately established
    Can carry on conversation at rather adult level
    Follows fairly complex directions with little repetition
    Has well developed time and number concepts

    90% of Children Have Mastered These Sounds...By Age

    p, d, m, w, h, n  - 2 years old

    t, b, k, g  - 3 years old

    f, v, y  - 4 to 5 years old

    s, z, j, l, r, sh, ch, th, blends - 5 to 7 years old