Milestones

All children are unique and develop at their rate. Below is a chart representing the age most children typically master skills. All items in a category may not be mastered until the oldest age in a category. If your child has not mastered the majority of the skills in an age range, contact us.

Age Receptive Language Expressive Language
Birth to 3months
  • Startles to loud sounds.
  • Recognizes familiar voices and quiets if crying
  • Attends and smiles at familiar voices.
  • Differentiated crying for different needs.
  • Smiles and makes cooing sounds when happy.
4 to 6months
  • Responds to changes in tone of voice.
  • Attends to music.
  • Localizes to sounds.
  • Babbles using different sounds (p, b,m).
  • Makes different sounds for excitement or when unhappy.
7months to 1yr
  • Understands words for everyday common items. (ex. juice, cup, shoe, etc.)
  • Begins to understand simple directions ("Sit down", "Come here")
  • Enjoys playing games like peek–a–boo or patty-cake.
  • Imitates different speech sounds.
  • Uses 1 or 2 words (mama, dada, bye-bye).
  • Uses speech or speech-like sounds to get attention.
1 to 2 years
  • Enjoys simple stories, songs, or rhymes.
  • Points to pictures in books.
  • Points to some body parts when named.
  • Uses 1-2 word sentences and questions. ex “ More cookie”, “where dada?”, “No, eat” “What’s that”.
2 to 3 years
  • Follows 2 step directions- "Get your shoe and put it on."
  • Understands simple opposites - up/down, go/stop, big/little.
  • Has many words for things in the environment.
  • Speech is understood 75% of the time.
  • Uses 2-3 words sentences.
3 to 4 years
  • Understands simple “wh” questions “who, what, where, etc.
  • Hears when you call from a different room.
  • Uses at least 4-word sentences.
  • Can be understood by others outside the family.
4 to 5 years
  • Can listen to a short story and answer questions about the story.
  • Understands and hears most of what is said in the environment by peers and adults.
  • Communicates easily with peers and adults.
  • Stays on topic when sharing stories.
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