Birth-1 year old
Notices and responds to sounds in their environment
Begins to show development of reactions (laughs/cries)
Attempts babbling sounds (ma, pa, ba)
Responds to simple words and phrases ("no", "more?")
Uses gestures, begins to wave
By 12 months, a child should be saying 2-6 words besides “mama” and “dada”
1-2 years old
Follows 1-step directions ("Grab the ball")
Responds to basic questions ("Where is your blankie?")
Makes the sounds p, b, m, h, and w in words they know
Uses two word comments or requests ("more juice")
By 15 months, a child should be using 10 different words
By 18 months, a child should be using 50 different words
By 24 months, a child should be saying 200-300 words
2-3 years old
Quickly adds new words to vocabulary
Follows 2-step directions ("Grab the book and put it on the table")
Uses 3 word sentences
Makes sounds k, g, n, d , t, and f in words they know
By 30 months, a child should be saying 450 words
By 36 months, a child uses about 1,000 different words
3-4 years old
Knows words for some colors and shapes
Uses 4 word sentences
Speech is mostly understood by other adults
Says plural forms of words they know (trucks, dogs, cats)
Says pronouns in sentences (I, you, me, they)
By age 4, a child generally has 1,500-1,600 words in their vocabulary
4-5 years old
Follows multiple step directions ("Put on your shoes, find your backpack, then get in the car")
Follows teacher instructions in the classroom
Knows words for time concepts (today, yesterday, tomorrow)
Talks in a conversation
Uses action words ("Jack plays, Sue swims, Billy eats")
Uses all sounds in words with possible mistakes on sounds like: l, r, s, sh, ch, th
By age 5, or when they enter kindergarten, a child will have about 2,100-2,200 words in their vocabulary
Information from above was found on the following sources: American Speech-Language Hearing Association, Teach Me to Talk, Super Duper Inc..
Do you have a hard time understanding your child?
You may hear a speech therapist or other professional use the word “intelligibility”. Intelligibility refers to how much of a child’s speech you can understand. As kiddos gain more words in their vocabulary with age, your ability to understand what they are saying should increase as well. This chart provides information regarding how much of your child’s speech those around the child should be understanding based upon their age.
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