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Speech/Communication Milestones
3.5-4 Years Old
Developmental /Play Milestones
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Plays with mechanical toys
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Takes turns with other children
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Play themes expand beyond personal experience (e.g. fireman
rescuing people)
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Engages in symbolic play (e.g. will pretend a block is a phone)
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Likes to play “dress up”
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Takes in interest in other children’s games.
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Talks about feelings
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Feels shame when caught doing something wrong
Receptive Language
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Understands instructions containing key words (e.g. “Get the
spoon and the blue cup”)
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Responds to two-step commands
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Identifies pictures of familiar objects
Identifies body parts
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Identifies articles of clothing
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Understands verbs
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Understands pronouns (me, my, your)
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Understands object use
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Comprehends a variety of wh questions
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Enjoys rhymes
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Understands spatial concepts (in, on, out of, off)
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Understands quantitative concepts (one, rest, some, all)
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Can make some inferences
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Understands basic analogies
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Understands negatives in sentences
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Some color recognition
Expressive Language
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Verbalizes for a variety of pragmatic functions (requesting,
asking questions, labeling, requesting assistance, narrating
play, answering yes/no questions)
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Uses a variety of sentence combinations
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Asks a variety of –WH questions (what and where)
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Uses vocabulary of several hundred words
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Can combine 3-5 or more words in a sentence
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Can talk about things that are not present
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Can sequence about 2 events
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Can be understood by unfamiliar adults most of the time (some
words may be hard to understand)
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Beginning to use pronouns , “he, she, I , you, me, mine”
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Stage II in Brown’s Morphemes (uses present progressive –ing,
‘in’, ‘on’, and regular plural) Stage III emerging (past tense –ed,
possessive ‘s)
Pragmatics
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Uses words for a variety of functions including requesting,
commenting, Labeling, directing, describing, etc.
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Able to observe and follow turn-taking skills
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Able to get attention from prospective listener (verbally)
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Makes relevant comments during a conversation
4-5 Years Old
Developmental Milestones
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Begins negotiating
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Plays together with shared aims of play with others
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Usually prefers playing with other children than playing by
themselves
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Plays imaginatively (e.g. dress up, cooking)
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Interested in finishing projects
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Enjoys playing games with simple rules (e.g. hide and seek)
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May change the rules of a game as the activity progresses
Receptive Language
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Understands everyday conversations
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Identifies Colors
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Understands spatial concepts (under, in back of, next to, in
front of)
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Understands sentences with post-noun elaboration (Point to the
white kitten that is sleeping)
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Understands pronouns (his, her, he, she, they)
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Understands quantitative concepts (more, most)
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Understands concept number of 3
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Identifies shapes
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Understands more complex sentences
Knows time concepts (early, tomorrow)
Expressive Language
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By 4 y.o. can use nearly 1500 words
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Uses simple but complete sentences
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Can name described objects
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Begins to talk about past events
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Can answer questions logically (i.e. What would you do if you are
hungry?)
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Uses possessives
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Can tell how an object is used (function)
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Can answer questions about hypothetical events (What would you
do if you are lost?)
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Uses Prepositions (in, on, under)
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Can name first, middle, last
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Utterances are long and appropriate but some grammatical
features are still incorrect (e.g. irregular past tense)
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Can tell a longer story accurately
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Can combine 5-8 words in a sentence.
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Browns stage IV-V Morphemes (articles ‘a’ and ‘the’, regular
past tense –ed,, 3rd person regular present tense ‘the puppy
chews it’, regular plurals)
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Uses basic helping verbs in sentences (is, are, am)
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Uses contractions (can’t won’t, he’s)
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Comparative –er emerging (“bigger”)
Pragmatics
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Can judge grammatical correctness of basic sentences
(something sounds “silly”)
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Maintains a topic
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Responds to and uses polite greetings
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Observes turn-taking roles in classrooms and social
interactions
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Adapts speech to the listener
5-6 Years Old
Developmental Milestones
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Play themes will include many that have never been personally
experienced.
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Plays and negotiates with others during play.
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Play is well organized.
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Experienced book handler
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Builds elaborate things with blocks
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Able to play games with rules
Receptive Language
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Understands everyday conversations
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Understands more complex sentences
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Identifies more advances body parts
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Understands numerical quantitative concepts
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Comprehends modified nouns (The small black dog)
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Comprehends approximately 13,000 words by age 6
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Understands common opposites
Points to letters
Understands many location prepositions (on top, above, between,
near)
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Knows address
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Has number concepts to 10
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Points to half and whole
Expressive Language
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Utterances are long and appropriate but some grammatical
features are still incorrect
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Uses possessive nouns (the dog/s tail)
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Names categories
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Formulates meaningful, grammatically correct questions in
response to picture stimuli.
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Completes analogies.
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Can uses qualitative concepts (short, long)
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Names letters
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Uses modifying noun phrases (“The dog that is wet”)
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Able to listen and retell stories (about past events as well)
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Answers ”What happens if?” questions
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Names basic colors
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Name s approx. 5 letters of alphabet
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States similarities and differences of objects
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Describes location or movement (through, away, from, toward)
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Names position (first, second, third)
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Pronouns used consistently
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Superlative –est used (“biggest”)
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Adverbial word endings (slowly, faster)
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Knows some indefinite pronouns (every, any, both, few)
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Uses irregular plurals (mice, teeth)
Pragmatics
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Wh questions to request
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Understands some indirect requests
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Self-monitors speech sometimes self-correcting errors
6-7 Years Old
Developmental Milestones
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Enjoys playing in small groups and making up their own games
and rules.
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Can spend hours on one activity
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Demands more realism
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Better at planning and executing play sequences
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Table top games popular
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Enjoys playing co-operative games but may have difficulty with
losing.
Receptive Language
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Comprehends 20,000-26,000 words
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Understands seasons and what you do in each season
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Can put pictures in a qualitative order (from biggest to
smallest)
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Understands more qualitative concepts (each, every)
Can identify initial sounds of words
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Understands time/sequence concepts (last, first)
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Can recall story details
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Can identify story sequences
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Can identify the main idea of a story
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Can make a prediction
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Identifies items that do not belong
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Identifies words that rhyme
Expressive Language
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Responds correctly to WHY questions
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Repairs semantic absurdities (fix this sentence “The girl ate the
big moon”)
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Uses –er to indicate one who is...(painter, dancer)
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Can produce rhyme words
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Can delete syllables in words when asked (“say Bluebird without
blue”)
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Completes similes (“If I swim really well I could say I swim like
a ___”)
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Repeats non-words
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States preceding and following numbers and days of the week
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Apt to use slang
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States address (street and number)
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Repeats sentences
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Can retell a story with an introduction
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Can sequence events in a story
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Retells a story with a logical conclusion
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Can formulate sentences given 2 words
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Comparison words used (good, better, best)
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Passive voice developing
Pragmatic Language
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More adept at reading non-verbal clues
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Uses more intonation, gestures, and other non-verbal behavior
7-9 Years Old
Developmental Milestones
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Enjoys using new skills both gross and fine motor
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Increased ability to engage in communication
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Has a strong group identity
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Increasing logical thinking
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Applies personal knowledge and experiences to particular
situations to determine whether it makes sense or not
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Start to enjoy team sports
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Be able to tell time
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Start to plan ahead
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Knows left hand from right hand
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May need an adult to sort out arguments/disagreements
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Longer attention span
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May start collecting things
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Recognizes basic social norms and appropriate behavior
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Peer relationships become very important and as children near 9
years old they have some solid caring relationships.
Receptive Language
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Follows 3-4 oral directions in a sequence
Understands direction word (e.g. Location, space, and time
words)
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Correctly answers questions about grade-level story
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Understands grade level material
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Understands more jokes and riddles
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Improved understanding of other people’s perspectives
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Starts to understand that words have multiple meanings (“tie”
that you wear and “tie” a knot)
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Starts learning words in school that are not part of everyday
conversations.
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Understand cause and effect
Expressive Language
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Uses a vocabulary of several thousand words
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Easily understood
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Answers more complex yes/no questions
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Asks a variety of wh-questions (who, what, where, when, why,
how)
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Uses increasingly complex sentence structures
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Clarifies and explains words and ideas
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Gives directions with 3-4 steps
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Participates in conversations and group discussions
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Uses subject-related vocabulary
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Summarizes a story accurately
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Can explain what has been learned
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More adult speech patterns are imitated
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Can define words using synonyms and categories.
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May continue to have some grammatical errors in spoken
language.
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May no longer have articulation errors but may have difficulty
saying complex words (ex. “aluminum”
Pragmatic Language
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Uses language to inform, persuade and entertain
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Stays om topic, takes turns, and uses appropriate eye contact
during conversation
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Open and closes conversations appropriately
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Listens attentively in group situations
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Corrects misunderstandings in conversation by defining words
or giving background information.
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Understands more jokes and rid
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Want to know “reasons” behind things