Speech and Language Milestones
- Has sentence length of 4-6 words
- Continues to learn lots of new words very quickly
- 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?”
- Tells stories, recalls daily events
- Uses past, present and future tense, mostly, but not always, correctly
- Interested in written words, letters and numbers.
- Matches and sorts objects in a large variety of ways
- Understands prepositions (i.e. beside, behind, in front)
- Stays with an activity for 11-12 minutes
Activities to encourage child speech and language development
- Model correct sound productions
- Repeat and expand phrases (i.e. “I have more milk” becomes “Can I have more milk, please”)
- Model correct use of question forms (Can, do, does, is), pronoun use and verb tenses
- Help sort objects and things (i.e. things you eat, animals, food)
- Encourage planning activities (i.e. what should we build out of blocks)
- Have the child deliver messages for you
- Continue talking about interests and daily activities
- Read longer stories
- Encourage storytelling and pretend play activities
- Be attentive when approached
Speech Development Warning Signs
Contact Speech Matters, LLC if your child demonstrates difficulty with:
- Difficulty being understood by others
- Frustration when communicating if intended message is not understood
- Difficulty putting sentences together
- Lots of grammatical difficulties in their sentences
- Difficulties with concepts such as prepositions (position words such as behind, beside, etc.) colors, size, categories
- Limited asking of questions
- Poor following of verbal directions
- Limited interest and knowledge of letters and numbers
- Prefers solitary play to peer interaction
- Limited self-vocalization during pretend play activities