Many parents wonder if their children are reaching expected milestones at an appropriate age. In this blog we will give some language and communication milestones, and share suggestions for how you can support your child to progress with their communication skills.
What should my child say and understand?
Developmental Language milestones
Firstly, let’s remember every child is different, each child will have their strengths and weaknesses. Developmental milestones should be considered as a general guideline. If you have any questions about your child’s communication development, please contact us to ask about your child. Read on for general communication milestones for kids aged 1-5 years.
At 1 year old your child should:
• Look at you (give eye contact)
• Use basic gestures such as waving and clapping
• Point to things they want to show you
• Turn around when they hear their name being spoken
• Vocalise (make sounds with their voice) and use their voice to attract attention
• Still babble lots but also start to use some single words (e.g. ‘up’, ‘dada’, ‘no’)
• Understand approximately 10 words
• Imitate sounds (e.g. farm animals or other environmental sounds like a car)
At 2 years old your child should:
• Follow longer instructions (e.g. put your shoes on and get your water bottle)
• Know some body parts (e.g. eyes, ears, legs)
• Enjoy a range of songs and nursery rhymes
• Recognise a range of pictures and objects and can point to these when asked (e.g. show me the dog)
• Imitate/copy actions of others
• Understand the words ‘in’ and ‘on’ (e.g. put the dog on the chair)
• Say more than 50 words
• Start putting two words together (e.g. ‘mama go’)
At 3 years old your child should:
• Sit and listen to a short story and show interest
• Understand more detailed instructions such as ‘find a small teddy and sit on the floor’
• Categorise objects (e.g. animals, transport, food and clothes)
• Understand simple ‘wh’ questions such as ‘who’, ‘where’ and ‘what’
• Know a range of colours
• Use pronouns such as ‘mine’
• Regularly use new words in their vocabulary
• Use short sentences when speaking, often 4-5 words long
• Start using grammar such as adding ‘-ed’ to past tense verbs (e.g. jumped)
At 4- 5 years old your child should:
• Start conversations with peers or adults
• Start asking questions or comments appropriately in a conversation
• Be able to follow complex instructions such as ‘get your hat, tuck your chair in and sit on the carpet’
• Respond to a range of more complex questions such as ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions
• Understand time concepts such as ‘before’ and ‘after’
• Be able to sequence and retell an event or a story successfully
• Start to be familiar with letters and numbers
• Use almost all speech sounds correctly (approximately 90%)
What can I do to help my child talk and listen?
We know from research that 3-year olds have the capacity to learn 8 new words a day. A large part of whether they reach this capacity is the language environment we provide for our children. Below are some easy tips for how to best support your child’s communication skills.
- Let your child lead! Follow what your child is interested in, they will be more motivated and learn much more if you go with their interests.
- Model and show your child how to do things (e.g. ‘put your shoes on’ adults should show them by putting their shoes on). Modelling is a very powerful tool which children learn from
- Play together! This is how children learn; through play. Give them a range of toys to choose from and engage together in a toy they choose.Get down to their level! Children will be more likely to initiate conversation if you are sitting/lying down with them. When you’re at the same eye level as your child, this helps them feel like an equal, and you can see their communication attempts better.
- Observe, Wait and Listen (OWL). Let your child initiate conversation and follow on from them.
- Comment a lot, ask less questions! Your child needs to enjoy communicating with you so, and too many questions can feel like a lot of pressure for a child. Model language by commenting on what you see, and what you are doing, to reduce pressure.
- Add information to what they say (e.g. child says ‘dog’ adult responds ‘it is a very large fluffy dog’). This helps children learn new vocabulary.
- Involve your child in everyday activities. Children learn best through experiences and therefore it makes sense to include them in daily life. Have your child help you pair socks, hang out the washing, make dinner, do the shopping and clean the house together. There are so many learning opportunities and new vocabulary available through sharing in these everyday activities.
Building your child’s language can be fun, and is simply about spending time talking to them, and tuning in to their intersts and skills!
If you have concerns or questions about your child’s language development, get in touch with a speech therapist.