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May. 18, 2021 | Insights

Speech, Language, and Communication Milestones in the First Five Years of Life

by: Lindsay Morgan, SLP + Autumn Arendt, SLP

I’ll let you in on a little secret: your child began communicating with you long before they said their first word. Communication first happens with movements and sounds within the womb, and is more than words; it is sounds, noises, gestures, laughter, crying and facial expressions. All of these elements of expression communication work together to allow children and caregivers to bond and form relationships.

When your child was in utero and your stomach moved, you noticed that shift and responded by pushing back or rubbing your belly. If you tickled your baby and they laughed, you repeated the activity to encourage the same response. Each of these events are examples of communicative exchanges. In each of these moments, the child recognized and responded to your voice, facial expressions, gestures, or emotions. Communication is bigger than words and can be shared in many ways, and your child may show understanding of language in different ways as well. This bring us to a bigger question. How do you know your child is developing speech, language, and communication skills successfully through their first five years of life?

When we discuss typical development, we often speak of milestones. A developmental milestone is a specific skill (sitting up, waving, first word, etc.) children achieve, generally within a certain age range. Developmental milestones have been extensively studied and reported to best gauge an individual child’s development in an effort to identify and address potential delays. Below we have provided a checklist of some key speech and language milestones that have been outlined by the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA).

Our mission at St. David’s Center is to build relationships that nurture the development of every child and family. St. David’s Center services promote and facilitate all areas of development to lay the foundation for lifelong learning. Should you be faced with concerns regarding your child’s development, our therapists can evaluate and treat a wide range of communication and language disorders.

Below is a guide for comprehension and communication milestones for your reference. Source: “How Does Your Child Hear and Talk? Speech, Language, and Hearing Developmental Milestones From Birth to 5 Years.” Speech, Language, and Hearing Developmental Milestones From Birth to 5 Years, ASHA, www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart/.

Comprehension:

Birth to three months

  • Startles at loud sounds
  • Quiets or smiles when you talk
  • Seems to recognize your voice
  • Quiets if crying

Four to six months

  • Moves her eyes in the direction of sounds
  • Responds to changes in your tone of voice
  • Notices toys that make sounds
  • Pays attention to music

Seven months to one year old

  • Turns and looks in the direction of sounds
  • Looks when you point
  • Turns when you call her name
  • Understands words for common items and people—words like cup, truck, juice, and daddy
  • Starts to respond to simple words and phrases, like “No,” “Come here,” and “Want more?”
  • Plays games with you, like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
  • Listens to songs and stories for a short time

One to two years old

  • Points to a few body parts when you ask
  • Follows 1-part directions, like “Roll the ball” or “Kiss the baby.”
  • Responds to simple questions, like “Who’s that?” or “Where’s your shoe?”
  • Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes
  • Points to pictures in a book when you name them.

Two to three years old

  • Understands opposites, like go–stop, big–little, and up–down
  • Follows 2-part directions, like “Get the spoon and put it on the table.”
  • Understands new words quickly.

Three to four years old

  • Responds when you call from another room
  • Understands words for some colors, like red, blue, and green
  • Understands words for some shapes, like circle and square
  • Understands words for family, like brother, grandmother, and aunt

Four to five years old

  • Understands words for order, like first, next, and last
  • Understands words for time, like yesterday, today, and tomorrow
  • Follows longer directions, like “Put your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and then pick out a book.”
  • Follows classroom directions, like “Draw a circle on your paper around something you eat.”
  • Hears and understands most of what she hears at home and in school

Communication

Birth to three months

  • Makes cooing sounds
  • Cries change for different needs
  • Smiles at people

Four to six months

  • Coos and babbles when playing alone or with you
  • Makes speech-like babbling sounds, like pa, ba, and mi
  • Giggles and laughs
  • Makes sounds when happy or upset

Seven months to one year

  • Babbles long strings of sounds, like mimi upup babababa
  • Uses sounds and gestures to get and keep attention
  • Points to objects and shows them to others
  • Uses gestures like waving bye, reaching for “up,” and shaking his head no
  • Imitates different speech sounds
  • Says 1 or 2 words, like hi, dog, dada, mama, or uh-oh. This will happen around his first birthday, but sounds may not be clear

One to two years old

  • Uses a lot of new words
  • Uses p, b, m, h, and w in words
  • Starts to name pictures in books
  • Asks questions, like “What’s that?”, “Who’s that?”, and “Where’s kitty?”
  • Puts 2 words together, like “more apple,” “no bed,” and “mommy book.”

Two to three years old

  • Has a word for almost everything
  • Talks about things that are not in the room
  • Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n in words
  • Uses words like in, on, and under
  • Uses two- or three- words to talk about and ask for things
  • People who know your child can understand him
  • Asks “Why?”
  • Puts 3 words together to talk about things. May repeat some words and sounds

Three to four years old

  • Answers simple who, what, and where questions
  • Says rhyming words, like hat–cat
  • Uses pronouns, like I, you, me, we, and they
  • Uses some plural words, like toys, birds, and buses
  • Most people understand what your child says
  • Asks when and how questions
  • Puts 4 words together. May make some mistakes, like “I goed to school.”
  • Talks about what happened during the day. Uses about 4 sentences at a time

Four to five years old

  • Says all speech sounds in words. May make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say, like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, and th
  • Responds to “What did you say?”
  • Talks without repeating sounds or words most of the time
  • Names letters and numbers
  • Uses sentences that have more than 1 action word, like jump, play, and get. May make some mistakes, like “Zach gots two video games, but I got one.”
  • Tells a short story
  • Keeps a conversation going
  • Talks in different ways, depending on the listener and place. Your child may use short sentences with younger children. He may talk louder outside than inside.
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