MILESTONES - Speech and Language

0-6 months

• Uses a variety of cries to express different needs

• Responds to sounds by turning head

• Uses sounds or gestures to indicate wants

• Frequently coos and makes pleasure sounds

• Imitates tongue movements and smiles at familiar faces

• Looks and smiles at people when talked to

7-12 months

• Listens to and imitates some adult speech sounds pitch patterns

• Babbles using long and short groups of sounds

• Understands phrases like “no-no,” “all gone,” and “bye-bye”

• Makes some appropriate use of gestures (shakes head for “no”)

• Begins to change babbling to jargon

• Uses speech intentionally for the first time

• Say “mama” or “dada” for parents

13-18 months

• Looks for hidden objects

• Points or gestures to communicate needs

• Talks in single words, often omits sounds

• Uses jargon and repeats some words

• Has 3-20 words (mostly nouns) in expressive vocabulary

• Identifies 1-3 body parts

• Follows simple directions

19-24 months

• Expressive vocabulary of 50 to 100 words

• Receptive vocabulary or 300 + words

• Starts to combine nouns and verbs

• Begins to use pronouns

• Is approximately 25-50% intelligible to strangers

• Names a few familiar objects

• Identifies 5-6 body parts on a doll

• Begins to understand adjectives in phrases

2-3 years

• Speech is 50-75% intelligible

• Consistently uses initial consonants

• Frequently uses medial consonants

• Frequently omits or substitutes final consonants

• Begins to demonstrate turn-taking and sharing behaviors

• Follows simple commands and answers simple questions

• Uses 3-4 word phrases

• Has a receptive vocabulary of 500-900 words

• Has an expressive vocabulary of 50-250 or more words

3-4 years

• Spontaneously uses 4-5 word sentences 

• Is at least 80% intelligible 

• Uses irregular plurals, future tense verbs, conjunctions, and contractions 

• Understands object functions

• 1,000-2,000+ word receptive vocabulary

• 800-1,500+ word expressive vocabulary

• Uses helping verbs in sentences

• Tells 2 events in chronological order

4-5 years

• Consistently uses grammatically correct sentences of 4-8 words

• Completes analogies

• Identifies all basic colors

• Likes to pretend and act out stories

• Understands and answers complex 2-part questions

• Significantly reduces number of persistent sound omissions and substitutions

5-6 years

• Follows 3 step directions

• Asks “how” questions

• Uses past and future tenses appropriately

• Uses conjunctions

• Names opposites

• Accurately relays a story

• Exchanges information and asks questions

6-7 years

• Names letters and numbers

• Is detailed in descriptions

• Uses irregular verb forms

• Names days, months and numbers in order

• Comprehends future and past tenses

• Understands humor

• Wonders about abstract events like how things work

• Counts to 100

• Uses most grammar appropriately

• Has a receptive vocabulary of approximately 20,000 words