Hearing & Understanding (7 mo - 1 year)

• Turns and looks in the direction of sounds
• Listens when spoken to
• Recognizes words for common items like “cup”, “shoe”, “juice”
• Responds to name
• Begins to respond to simple requests (“come here”,  “want more”)
• Smiles at when smiled at and can follow eye gaze

Talking & Play Skills
(7 mo - 1 year)

• Babbling with both long and short groups of sounds “tata upup bibibibib”
• Uses speech or non-crying sounds to get and keep attention
• Imitates different speech sounds
• Has 1 or 2 words (bye-bye, dad, mama)
• Enjoys games like peak-a-boo and pat-a-cake
• Joint attention
• Reacts to emotions

Talking & Play Skills
(1 - 2 years)

• Says more words every month
• Uses some 1-2 word questions (where kitty? go bye-bye?)
• Puts 2 words together (more cookie, no juice, mommy book)
• Uses many different consonant sounds at the beginning of words
• Points to objects to get others engaged (joint attention)
• Plays near other children, begins to imitate
• Greets others, takes turns
• Brings objects to adult, requests action with words/ gestures

Hearing & Understanding
(2 - 3 years)

• Hears when you call from another room
• Answers simple “who?”, “what?”, “where?”, “why?” questions
• Follows 2-3 step directions
• Understands concepts “inside”, “under”, “on top”
• Points to 5-6 parts of a doll when asked

Talking & Play Skills
(2 - 3 years)

• Has a word for almost everything (50-200 words)
• Uses 2-3 words to talk about and ask for things
• Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time
• Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them
• Acts out simple themes from own experience
• Talks to self during play

Hearing & Understanding
(3 - 4 years)

• Understands differences in meaning (“go-stop”, “in-on”, “big-little”, “up-down”)
• Follows 2 requests (“Get the book and put it on the table”)
• Understands action words (“jump, run, wash”) and descriptive words (“big, wet, little”)
• Matches objects to pictures

Talking & Play Skills
(3 - 4 years)

• Talks about activities completed earlier  from school or home
• People outside the family understand the child’s speech
• Uses a lot of sentences that have 4 or more words
• Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words
• Cooperative play begins
• Begins to share and show empathy and emotions
• Able to maintain a topic

Hearing & Understanding
(4 - 5 years)

• Pays attention to short stories and answers simple questions
• Hears and understands most of what is said in school
• Understands spatial concepts (under, in back of,  in front of)
• Makes inferences  from pictures and stories
• Understands and can produce rhyming words
• Can clap out multi-syllable words

Talking & Play Skills
(4 - 5 years)

• Says most sounds correctly except l, s, r, v, z, j, ch, sh, th.
• Uses the same grammar as the rest of the family
• Uses sentences that give lots of details (I like to read by books)
• Tells stories that stick to topic
• Communicates easily with other children and adults
• Understand that other people have thoughts