Developmental Milestones

Before going over developmental milestones it is important to differentiate speech and language.

Speech refers to how we say sounds and words.

It includes: articulation (how we make speech sounds using our mouth, lips and tongue), voice (how we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds), and fluency (the rhythm of our speech).

Language refers to the words we use and how we use them to share ideas and get what we want.

It includes:

What words mean. Some words have more than one meaning. For example, “star” can be a bright object in the sky or someone famous.
How to make new words. For example, we can say “friend,” “friendly,” or “unfriendly” and mean something different.
How to put words together. For example, in English we say, “Peg walked to the new store” instead of “Peg walk store new.”
What we should say at different times. For example, we might be polite and say, “Would you mind moving your foot?” But, if the person does not move, we may say, “Get off my foot!”

Speech and Language Milestones

By age one:

Recognizes name
Says 2-3 words besides "mama" and "dada"
Imitates familiar words
Understands simple instructions
Recognizes words as symbols for objects: Car - points to garage, cat - meows

Between one and two:

Understands "no"
Uses 10 to 20 words, including names
Combines two words such as "daddy bye-bye"
Waves good-bye and plays pat-a-cake
Makes the "sounds" of familiar animals
Gives a toy when asked
Uses words such as "more" to make wants known
Points to his or her toes, eyes, and nose
Brings object from another room when asked

Between two and three:

Identifies body parts
Carries on 'conversation' with self and dolls
Asks "what's that?" And "where's my?"
Uses 2-word negative phrases such as "no want".
Forms some plurals by adding "s"; book, books
Gives first name, holds up fingers to tell age
Combines nouns and verbs "mommy go"
Refers to self as "me" rather than by name
Talks to other children as well as adults
Answers "where" questions
Names common pictures and things
Uses short sentences like "me want more" or "me want cookie"
Matches 3-4 colors, knows big and little

Between three and four:

Can tell a story
Has a sentence length of 4-5 words
Has a vocabulary of nearly 1000 words
Names at least one color
Understands "yesterday," "summer", "lunchtime", "tonight", "little-big"
Begins to obey requests like "put the block under the chair"
Knows his or her last name, name of street on which he/she lives and several nursery rhymes

Between four and five:

Has sentence length of 4-5 words
Uses past tense correctly
Has a vocabulary of nearly 1500 words
Points to colors red, blue, yellow and green
Identifies triangles, circles and squares
Understands "In the morning" , "next", "noontime"
Can speak of imaginary conditions such as "I hope"
Asks many questions, asks "who?" And "why?"

Between five and six:

Has a sentence length of 5-6 words
Has a vocabulary of around 2000 words
Defines objects by their use (you eat with a fork) and can tell what objects are made of
Knows spatial relations like "on top", "behind", "far" and "near"
Knows her address
Identifies a penny, nickel and dime
Knows common opposites like "big/little"
Understands "same" and "different"
Counts ten objects
Asks questions for information
Distinguished left and right hand in herself
Uses all types of sentences, for example "let's go to the store after we eat"

Zero to Three Months:

turn to you when you speak, and smile when they hear your voice.
recognize your familiar voice, and will quiet at the sound of it if they are crying.
stop their activity and attend closely to the sound of an unfamiliar voice.
will often respond to comforting tones whether the voice is familiar or not.

Four to Six Months:

respond to the word "no".
responsive to changes in your tone of voice, and to sounds other than speech.

Seven to Twelve Months:

listen when spoken to
turn and look at your face when called by name
discover the fun of games like: "round and round the garden", "peep-oh", "I see" and "pat-a-cake"
they recognize the names of familiar objects ("Daddy", "car", "eyes", "phone", "key")
begin to respond to requests ("Give it to Granny") and questions ("More juice?").