By 6 months of age, your child should be able to:

• Vocalize with intonation

• Respond to voices by turning head

• Recognize friendly vs. angry tones of voice

• Begin to babble

• Produce a variety of different sounds

• Bring both hands together

• Grasps a rattle

• Work to get a toy out of reach

• Rake with fingers an object and pick it up

• Bear some weight on legs when held upright

• Sit without support

• Roll over one way

By 12 months of age, your child should be able to:

• Use one or more words with meaning

• Understand simple directions with cues

• Use 1-2 word questions ("where kitty?")

• Point to pictures in books when named

• Clap hands or wave

• Pick up a tiny object with any part of thumb and finger

• Drink from a cup independently

• Walk holding onto furniture

• Stand alone momentarily

• Bear some weight on legs when held upright

• Sit without support

By 18 months of age, your child should be able to:

• Demonstrate a vocabulary of 5-20 words; mostly nouns

• Use a lot of jargon with emotional content

• Follow simple commands

• Stack 3-4 blocks

• Place rings on a cone

• Turn single pages in a book

• Roll a ball

• Walk backwards

Speech Intelligibility (“understandability”) to an unfamiliar listener:

18 months – 25% intelligible

24 months – 50% intelligible

By 2 years of age, your child should be able to:

• Name familiar objects

• Combine 2 words, especially noun-verb combinations

• Have a vocabulary of 150-300 words

• Use simple pronouns, such as I, me, you, my, and mine

• Understand differences in meaning (stop vs. go, big vs. little)

• Follow 2 step directions (Get the toy and give it to me)

• Use words more frequently than gestures to communicate

• Build tower of 6 blocks

• Pretend to push a train made out of three blocks after watching an adult do it

• String 1-4 large beads

• One hand starts to be dominant

• Hold crayon with whole hand

• Imitate an adult making circular strokes or dots

• Copy horizontal and vertical lines

• Use spoon well

• Turn a doorknob

• Walk and run on full feet

• Pull toys with strings

• Climb on furniture and get back down

• One hand starts to be dominant

• Climb stairs holding on with two feet on each stair

• Assist in dressing

• Open doors

By 3 years of age, your child should be able to:

• Use some plurals and past tense

• Know at least three prepositions, such as in, on, under

• Knows simple body parts

• Use 3 word sentences

• Demonstrate a vocabulary of 900-1 000 words

• Understand most simple, concrete questions

• Relate experiences in a logical manner

• Answer reasoning questions, such as "What would you do if you were cold?"

• Give gender, name, age

• Snip with scissors

• Complete 5-6 piece puzzle

• Hold a crayon with three fingers

• Copy circles

• Draw a person with a head

• Use a fork and spoon properly

• Jump in place with both feet

• Kick a stationary ball

• Ride a tricycle

• Stand on one foot for 2 seconds

• Swing on a swing when in motion

• Alternate feet while going up stairs

• Put on some clothing

• Wash and dry hands

Speech Intelligibility to an unfamiliar listener:

• 80% intelligible

Sounds to be mastered by this age:

By 5 years of age, your child should be able to:

• Use descriptive words and understand simple time concepts, such as morning, night, day, later

• Repeat sentences up to 9 words

• Define common objects in terms of use

• Follow three commands given without interruption

• Use long sentences, including some complex and compound sentences

• Demonstrate overall appropriate grammar

• Build tower of 12 blocks

• Build 3 steps out of 6 blocks

• Draw angled lines and triangles

• Draw person with head, body, legs and face

• Color inside lines

• Cut on straight line

• Hold a knife in dominant hand

• Button clothing

• Walk in a straight line

• Climb steps holding onto an object

• Hop on each foot 3 times

• Stand on one foot for 8-10 seconds

• Ride a bicycle with training wheels

• Swing by himself

• Bounce and catch a tennis ball

• Walk on tiptoes

Sounds to be mastered by this age:

By 6 years of age, your child should be able to:

• Stand on one foot with eyes closed for 3 seconds

• Walk on line in heel-toe fashion

• Skip

• Ride a bike without training wheels

• Jump rope

Sounds to be mastered by this age:

By 7 years of age, your child should be able to:

Sounds to be mastered by this age:

The above developmental milestones lists are compiled from the following sources: Murkoff,

H, .Eisenberg, A. ,and Hathaway, S. BSN. What to Expect The First Year. New York: Worman

Publishing, 2003 Wholefamily.com. Schapiro, Ziva OTR. 05 December 2006. 01 June 2007.

http://www.wholefamily.com/aboutyourkids/child/normal/physical_development.html Schraeder,

Heather M., MS, CCC-SLP. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. How Does Your

Child Hear and Talk? The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 01 June 2007.

www.asha.org

School-Age Speech, Language & Literacy Milestones

By the end of Kindergarten:

    Listening

• Follow 1-2 simple directions in a sequence
• Listen to and understand age-appropriate stories read aloud
• Follow a simple conversation

Speaking

• Be understood by most people
• Answer simple "yes/no" questions
• Answer open-ended questions (e.g., "What did you have for lunch today?")
• Retell a story or talk about an event
• Participate appropriately in conversations
• Show interest in and start conversations

Reading

• Know how a book works (e.g., read from left to right and top to bottom in English)
• Understand that spoken words are made up of sounds
• Identify words that rhyme (e.g., cat and hat)
• Compare and match words based on their sounds
• Understand that letters represent speech sounds and match sounds to letters
• Identify upper- and lowercase letters
• Recognize some words by sight
• "Read" a few picture books from memory
• Imitate reading by talking about pictures in a book

Writing

• Print own first and last name
• Draw a picture that tells a story and label and write about the picture
• Write upper- and lowercase letters (may not be clearly written)

By the End of 1st Grade:

Listening

• Remember information
• Respond to instructions
• Follow 2-3 step directions in a sequence

Speaking

• Be easily understood
• Answer more complex "yes/no" questions
• Tell and retell stories and events in a logical order
• Express ideas with a variety of complete sentences
• Use most parts of speech (grammar) correctly
• Ask and respond to "wh" questions (who, what, where, when, why)
• Stay on topic and take turns in conversation
• Give directions
• Start conversations

Reading

• Create rhyming words
• Identify all sounds in short words
• Blend separate sounds to form words
• Match spoken words with print
• Know how a book works (e.g., read from left to right and top to bottom in English)
• Identify letters, words, and sentences
• Sound out words when reading
• Have a sight vocabulary of 100 common words
• Read grade-level material fluently
• Understand what is read

Writing

• Express ideas through writing
• Print clearly
• Spell frequently used words correctly
• Begin each sentence with capital letters and use ending punctuation
• Write a variety of stories, journal entries, or letters/notes

By the end of 2nd Grade:

Listening

• Follow 3-4 oral directions in a sequence
• Understand direction words (e.g., location, space, and time words)
• Correctly answer questions about a grade-level story

Speaking

• Be easily understood
• Answer more complex "yes/no" questions
• Ask and answer "wh" questions (e.g., who, what, where, when, why)
• Use increasingly complex sentence structures
• Clarify and explain words and ideas
• Give directions with 3-4 steps
• Use oral language to inform, to persuade, and to entertain
• Stay on topic, take turns, and use appropriate eye contact during conversation
• Open and close conversation appropriately

Reading

• Have fully mastered phonics/sound awareness
• Associate speech sounds, syllables, words, and phrases with their written forms
• Recognize many words by sight
• Use meaning clues when reading (e.g., pictures, titles/headings, information in the story)
• Reread and self-correct when necessary
• Locate information to answer questions
• Explain key elements of a story (e.g., main idea, main characters, plot)
• Use own experience to predict and justify what will happen in grade-level stories
• Read, paraphrase/retell a story in a sequence
• Read grade-level stories, poetry, or dramatic text silently and aloud with fluency
• Read spontaneously
• Identify and use spelling patterns in words when reading

Writing

• Write legibly
• Use a variety of sentence types in writing essays, poetry, or short stories (fiction and nonfiction)
• Use basic punctuation and capitalization appropriately
• Organize writing to include beginning, middle, and end
• Spell frequently used words correctly
• Progress from inventive spelling (e.g., spelling by sound) to more accurate spelling

By the end of 3rd Grade:

Listening

• Listen attentively in group situations
• Understand grade-level material

Speaking

• Speak clearly with an appropriate voice
• Ask and respond to questions
• Participate in conversations and group discussions
• Use subject-related vocabulary
• Stay on topic, use appropriate eye contact, and take turns in conversation
• Summarize a story accurately
• Explain what has been learned

Reading

• Demonstrate full mastery of basic phonics
• Use word analysis skills when reading
• Use clues from language content and structure to help understand what is read
• Predict and justify what will happen next in stories and compare and contrast stories
• Ask and answer questions regarding reading material
• Use acquired information to learn about new topics
• Read grade-level books fluently (fiction and nonfiction)
• Reread and correct errors when necessary

Writing

• Plan, organize, revise, and edit
• Include details in writing
• Write stories, letters, simple explanations, and brief reports
• Spell simple words correctly, correct most spelling independently, and use a dictionary to correct spelling
• Write clearly in cursive

By the end of 4th Grade:

Listening

• Listen to and understand information presented by others
• Form opinions based on evidence
• Listen for specific purposes

Speaking

• Use words appropriately in conversation
• Use language effectively for a variety of purposes
• Understand some figurative language (e.g., "the forest stretched across…")
• Participate in group discussions
• Give accurate directions to others
• Summarize and restate ideas
• Organize information for clarity
• Use subject area information and vocabulary (e.g., social studies) for learning
• Make effective oral presentations

Reading

• Read for specific purposes
• Read grade-level books fluently
• Use previously learned information to understand new material
• Follow written directions
• Take brief notes
• Link information learned to different subjects
• Learn meanings of new words through knowledge of word origins, synonyms, and multiple meanings
• Use reference materials (e.g., dictionary)
• Explain the author's purpose and writing style
• Read and understand a variety of types of literature, including fiction, nonfiction, historical fiction, and poetry
• Compare and contrast in content areas
• Make inferences from texts
• Paraphrase content, including the main idea and details

Writing

• Write effective stories and explanations, including several paragraphs about the same topic
• Develop a plan for writing, including a beginning, middle, and end
• Organize writing to convey a central idea
• Edit final copies for grammar, punctuation, and spelling