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Speech and Language Milestones by Age: Should You Be Concerned?
Author: Isabella Knight M.S. CCC-SLP (Check Out Her Staff Page Here)
Developmental milestones are skills that most children are expected to learn within a certain age range, such as talking, understanding language, playing, moving, and interacting with others. Milestones provide a general guide for monitoring development, but it is important to remember that every child develops at their own pace. If a child is not meeting several expected milestones listed, it may be helpful to speak with a qualified professional. Below are speech and language milestones that are outlined by the American Speech- Language- Hearing Association (ASHA).
Age: 13- 18 Months
By this age, your child may:
Look around when asked “where” questions—like “Where’s your doll?”
Follow directions like “Give me the duck,” “Hug the doggy.”
Points to make requests, to comment, or to get information.
Shakes head for “no” and nods head for “yes.”
Understands and uses words for common objects, some actions, and people in their lives.
Identifies one or more body parts.
Uses gestures when excited, like clapping or giving a high-five, or when being silly, like sticking out their tongue or making funny faces.
Uses a combination of long strings of sounds, syllables, and real words with speech-like inflection.
Age: 18- 24 Months
By this age, your child may:
Understand and use at least 50 different words.
Use words for familiar people, foods, toys, animals, actions, and body parts.
Combine two or more words, such as “more milk” or “go outside.”
Follow a simple two-step direction, such as “Get your shirt and bring it to me.”
Use words such as me, mine, and you.
Use words to request help.
Use simple possessive phrases, such as “Mommy’s shirt.”
Produce words that may not always be clear to unfamiliar listeners.
Speech sound errors like “pish” for “fish” and simplified words like “wawa” for “water” are still expected at this age.
Age: 2- 3 Years
By this age, your child may:
Frequently combine words into short phrases and sentences.
Say their name when asked.
Use some plural words, such as cats or toys.
Use verbs ending in -ing, such as running or eating.
Begin using -ed to describe past actions.
Ask “why” and “how” questions.
Answer simple questions about familiar objects and routines.
Give simple reasons or explanations.
Correctly produce many early-developing sounds, including p, b, m, h, w, d, and n.
Produce most vowel sounds correctly.
Speech should be becoming clearer, although unfamiliar listeners may still have difficulty understanding everything your child says.
Age: 3- 4 Years
By this age, your child may:
Compare objects using words such as bigger, smaller, longer, or shorter.
Retell a simple story from a book, show, or video.
Understand and use location words such as inside, on, and under.
Use words such as a and the in sentences.
Recognize familiar signs and logos.
Pretend to read and write.
Write or copy some letters.
Correctly produce sounds such as t, k, g, f, and y.
Say all of the syllables within longer words.
Include sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of words.
Speak smoothly without frequently repeating sounds, words, or phrases.
By age 4, most people should understand most of what your child says. Errors may still occur on later-developing sounds, including l, r, s, sh, ch, j, v, z, and th.
Age: 4- 5 Years
By this age, your child may:
Use longer and more grammatically correct sentences.
Tell stories that include characters, settings, events, and connected ideas.
Use irregular plurals such as feet or men.
Understand location words such as behind, beside, and between.
Use time words such as yesterday and tomorrow more accurately.
Follow simple rules and directions during games.
Recognize and name at least 10 letters.
Write their own name.
Identify some rhyming words.
Combine word parts, such as cup and cake to make cupcake.
Correctly produce most consonant sounds.
Speech should generally be understandable during conversation, although a few speech sound errors may remain.
Download our age appropriate check lists to give you a better idea about whether or not to reach out.
Kindergarten
By the end of kindergarten, your child may:
Follow one or two directions in a row.
Listen to and understand simple stories.
Follow a basic conversation.
Speak clearly enough for most people to understand.
Answer simple yes-or-no and open-ended questions.
Retell a story or describe something they did.
Start conversations and take turns speaking.
Recognize rhyming words.
Identify the first sound in a word.
Connect some letters with their sounds.
Understand that words are made up of individual sounds.
At this age, speech, language, and early literacy skills begin working together to support classroom learning.
First Grade
By the end of first grade, your child may:
Remember information they hear.
Follow two- or three-step directions.
Speak clearly enough for unfamiliar listeners to understand.
Tell and retell stories that follow a logical order.
Express ideas using complete sentences.
Use most basic grammar correctly.
Ask and answer who, what, when, where, and why questions.
Stay on topic and take turns during conversations.
Give simple directions to another person.
Identify and separate the sounds in short words.
Blend individual sounds together to form words.
Understand what they read at an appropriate grade level.
Second Grade
By the end of second grade, your child may:
Follow three or four directions in order.
Understand location and time words such as next to, before, and later.
Answer questions about grade-level stories.
Use increasingly complex sentences.
Explain unfamiliar words and ideas.
Give directions containing three or four steps.
Use language to inform, persuade, and entertain.
Start, maintain, and end conversations appropriately.
Retell a story in the correct order.
Explain the main idea, characters, and plot of a story.
Make basic predictions using information from a story and personal experiences.
Third Grade
By the end of third grade, your child may:
Pay attention and understand information presented in a group.
Understand grade-level classroom information.
Adjust their voice depending on the situation.
Participate in conversations and group discussions.
Use vocabulary related to school subjects.
Stay on topic and take turns appropriately.
Summarize a story.
Explain something they learned.
Use prefixes, suffixes, and root words to determine word meanings.
Use context clues to understand unfamiliar vocabulary.
Ask and answer questions about what they read.
Predict and explain what may happen next in a story.
Fourth Grade
By the end of fourth grade, your child may:
Listen to information and form an opinion based on what they hear.
Listen for different purposes, such as learning, enjoyment, or persuasion.
Use vocabulary correctly during conversations.
Use language to ask questions, explain, argue, joke, and persuade.
Understand some figurative language, such as simple metaphors and exaggerations.
Participate in group discussions.
Give clear and accurate directions.
Summarize ideas using their own words.
Organize information so that another person can understand it.
Give a clear oral presentation.
Make inferences using information that is stated and implied.
Paraphrase information from something they have read.
Fifth Grade
Because children may be in fourth or fifth grade at age 10, communication expectations may also include:
Drawing conclusions from information presented in different subjects.
Planning and delivering an oral presentation for a specific audience.
Using eye contact, gestures, an appropriate volume, and clear speech during presentations.
Participating in classroom and group discussions.
Identifying and summarizing the most important information.
Explaining information learned during group activities.
Using increasingly varied vocabulary and sentence structures.
Revising spoken or written information to make it clearer.
When Should Families Seek Additional Support?
Consider speaking with a speech-language pathologist when your child:
Is not meeting several milestones within their age range.
Is frequently difficult for familiar or unfamiliar people to understand.
Becomes frustrated when trying to communicate.
Has difficulty understanding questions or directions.
Uses noticeably shorter or less complex sentences than peers.
Has difficulty telling stories, maintaining conversations, or explaining ideas.
Struggles with rhyming, sound awareness, reading comprehension, or written language.
Loses speech or language skills they previously demonstrated.
A speech-language evaluation can help determine whether your child’s communication development is progressing as expected and whether additional support may be beneficial.
References:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-a). Communication milestones: 13 to 18 months.
https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/communication-milestones-13-to-18-months/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-b). Communication milestones: 19 to 24 months.
https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/communication-milestones-19-to-24-months/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-c). Communication milestones: 2 to 3 years.
https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/communication-milestones-2-to-3-years/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-d). Communication milestones: 3 to 4 years.
https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/communication-milestones-3-to-4-years/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-e). Communication milestones: 4 to 5 years.
https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/communication-milestones-4-to-5-years/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-i). Your child’s communication: Kindergarten.
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/kindergarten/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-g). Your child’s communication: First grade.
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/firstgrade/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-j). Your child’s communication: Second grade.
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/secondgrade/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-k). Your child’s communication: Third grade.
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/thirdgrade/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-h). Your child’s communication: Fourth grade.
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/fourthgrade/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-f). Your child’s communication: Fifth grade.
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/fifthgrade/