Milestones
Motor Skills Milestones
There are two categories within the area of motor skills: gross motor and fine motor. Gross motor skills deal with large muscle groups such as walking. Fine motor incorporates the small muscles such as writing.
By Age 1
GROSS MOTOR:
• sits without support
• crawls
• pulls self to standing position and stands unaided
• walks with aid
• rolls a ball in imitation of adult
FINE MOTOR:
• reaches, grasps, puts object in mouth
• picks things up with pincer grasp (thumb and one finger)
• transfers object from one hand to the other
• drops and picks up toy
Between Ages 1 – 2
GROSS MOTOR:
• walks alone
• walks backwards
• picks up toys from floor without falling
• pulls toys, pushes toys
• seats self in child size chair
• walks up and down stairs with hand held
• moves to music
FINE MOTOR:
• builds tower of three small blocks
• puts four rings on stick
• places five pegs in pegboard
• turns pages two or three at a time
• scribbles
• turns knowbs
• throws small ball
• paints with whole arm movement, shifts hands, makes strokes
Between Ages 2 – 3
GROSS MOTOR:
• runs forward well
• jumps in place with two feet together
• stands on one foot (with aid)
• walks on tiptoe
• kicks a ball forward
FINE MOTOR:
• strings four large beads
• turns single pages
• snips with scissors
• holds crayon with thumb and fingers (not fist)
• uses one hand consistently in most activities
• imitates circular, vertical, horizontal strokes
• paints with some wrist action; makes dots, lines, circular strokes
• rolls, pounds, squeezes, and pulls clay
Between Ages 3 – 4
GROSS MOTOR:
• runs around obstacles
• walks on a line
• balances on one foot for five to ten seconds
• hops on one foot
• pushes, pulls, steers wheeled toys
• rides tricycle
• uses slide independently
• jumps over six inch high object and lands on both feet together
• throws ball overhead
• catches a bounce ball
FINE MOTOR:
• builds tower of nine small blocks
• drives nails and pegs
• copies circle
• imitates cross
• manipulates clay material (rolls balls, snakes, cookies)
Between Ages 4 – 5
GROSS MOTOR:
• walks backward toe-heel
• jumps forward 10 times without falling
• walks up and down stair independently, alternating feet
• turns somersault
FINE MOTOR:
• cuts on line continuously
• copies cross
• copies square
• prints a some capital letters
Between Ages 5 – 6
GROSS MOTOR:
• runs lightly on toes
• walks on balance beam
• can cover 2 meters hopping
• skips on alternate feet
• jumps rope
• skates
FINE MOTOR:
• cuts out simple shapes
• copies triangle
• traces diamond
• copies first name
• prints numerals 1 to 5
• colors within lines
• has adult grasp of pencil
• had handedness well established
• pastes and glues appropriately
Social Skills Milestones
By Age 1
• smiles spontaneously
• responds differently to strangers than to familiar people
• pays attention to own name
• responds to no
• copies simple actions of others
Between Ages 1 – 2
• recognizes self in mirror or picture
• refers to self by name
• plays by self; initiates own play
• imitates adult behaviors in play
• helps put things away
Between Ages 2 – 3
• plays near other children
• watches other children; joins briefly in their play
• defends own possessions
• begins to play house
• symbolically uses objects, self in play
• participates in simple group activity
• knows gender identity
Between Ages 3 – 4
• joins in play with other children; begins to interact
• shares toys; takes turns with assistance
• begins dramatic play, acting out whole scenes
Between Ages 4 – 5
• plays and interacts with other children
• dramatic play is closer to reality, with attention paid to detail, time, and space
• plays dress-up
• shows interest in exploring sex differences
Between Ages 5 – 6
• chooses own friends
• plays simple table games
• plays competitive games
• engages in cooperative play with other children involving group decisions, role assignments, fair play
Expressive Language Milestones
By 3 Months
• Cooing begins
• Differentiated cries
• Makes single vowel sounds
By 6 Months
• Babbling begins (strings of syllables)
• Laughs, gurgles, coos with familiar people
• Makes different sounds
• Imitates sounds
By 9 Months
• Combines syllables
• Produces 4 or more different sounds
• Imitates sounds
By 12 Months
• Says 2-6 words, other than “mama and dada”
• Imitates familiar words
By 15 Months
• Increasing word usage, mostly nouns
• Imitates words
• Uses jargon and repeats strings of jargon
• Asks for “more”
• Points and gestures to call attention or show wants
By 18 Months
• Uses 10-20 words, including names
• Imitates words and sounds more precisely
• Starts to combine 2 words together: ‘all gone’, ‘more cup’
• Mixes real words with jargon, on occasion
• Practices words and word combinations
By 24 Months
• Has about 200- 300 word vocabulary: things, actions, persons, and situations
• 2-3 word sentence length
• Asks “what’s this?,” “what’s that?,” and “where’s my…..” questions
• Asks for basic needs to be met: drink, food, toileting
• Labels pictures and actions
• Carries on “conversation” with doll or self
By 36 Months
• Has 1000 word vocabulary
• Names one color
• Frequently practices by talking to himself/ herself
• Uses 3-4 word sentences
• Can relay or tell a story or idea
• Can sing songs
• Asks “what” questions frequently
By 48 Months
• Uses 4-5 word sentence length
• Asks “who” and “why” questions
• Begins to combine sentences with “and”
• Uses past tense correctly
• Can speak with imaginary conditions such as “suppose that….” or “I hope….”
Source: www.proedinc.com
Speech Sounds Milestones
The following is a list of when 75% of children have mastered speech sounds.
(Photo Articulation Test, 1969, Pendergast et al, and Stoel-Gammon, 1985.)
Limited consonant sound use results in unintelligible speech and often indicates a motor speech disorder (apraxia) or phonological disorder. Check out these norms and the list of “red flags” which indicate that speech therapy is likely needed to help your child learn to be understood.
By 18 Months
• Child produces 3 to 6 different consonant sounds with each child having a little different consonant inventory
By 24 Months
• Initial Sounds – /p, b, m, t, n, d, h, k, g/
• Final Sounds – /p, m, n/
• Produces Most Vowel Sounds Correctly and at least 6-8 different consonant sounds.
By 28 Months
• Initial Sounds – /d, f/ and “y”
• Final Sounds – /s, d, k, f/ and “ng”
By 32 Months
• Initial Sounds – /w/
• Final Sounds – /t, b, r/
By 36 Months
• Initial Sounds – /s/
• Final Sounds – /l, g/ and “er” endings
• Child uses at least 9-12 different consonant sounds.
By 40 Months
• Initial Sounds – /l, r/
• Some consonant blends – bl, br, tr
• Final Sounds – /v/ and “sh”
By 44 Months
• Initial Sounds – “sh” and “ch” and fl
• Final Sounds – “ch”
By 48 Months
• Initial – sp, st, kl
After 48 months
• Initial – /z, v/ and “j”and th”
• Final – /z/ and “th” and “j”
By age 2
• parents should understand 50%
By age 3
• parents should understand most (90%)
By age 4
• parents should understand most (90%)
Source: Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP www.teachmetotalk.com
Listening
Listening to something is not the same as hearing it. Listening skills involve a child’s ability to attend to and process what he hears. These skills are integral components of a child’s speech and language, social, and academic development.
Birth to 3 months
• Discriminates speech from non-speech sounds
• Startles to loud sounds
• Quiets or excites in response to novel sounds
• Recognizes a primary caregiver’s voice
• Smiles or quiets when spoken to
• Decreases or increases sucking behavior in response to sounds
3 – 6 months
• Moves eyes in direction of sounds
• Discriminates friendly and angry voices
• Reacts to changes in tone of voice
• Attends to music and toys that make sounds
• Listens to a speaker and watches a speaker’s face when spoken to
6 – 12 months
• Responds to sound when a source is not visible
• Responds physically to music
• Stops an activity when name is called
• Recognizes words for common items
• Listens with increased interest to new words
• Begins to respond to simple requests, such as “Sit here”
1 – 2 years
• Follows one-step directions with cues
• Understands simple questions, such as “Where’s Daddy?”
• Points to named pictures in a book
• Follows directions to find two familiar objects
• Listens to simple stories
2 – 3 years
• Responds to commands involving body parts, such as “Show me your foot”
• Follows two-step directions, such as “Get your cup and bring it to me”
• Follows directions that include action + adverb or action + adjective, such as “Walk slowly” or “Give me the red ball”
• Demonstrates understanding of several verbs by selecting corresponding pictures
• Recognizes family labels such as baby, grandpa
3 – 4 years
• Attends to name being called from another room
• Understands simple wh- questions
• Understands most simple questions pertaining to her activities and environment
• Improves listening skills and begins to learn from listening
4 – 5 years
• Attends to a short story and answers simple questions about it
• Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school
• Repeats four digits when they are given slowly
• Readily follows simple commands involving remote objects
5 – 6 years
• Repeats sentences up to nine words in length
• Follows three-step directions
• Responds correctly to more types of sentences but may still be confused at times by more complex sentences
Source: LinguiSystems, Inc. — To download the complete GUIDE TO COMMUNICATION MILESTONES (2009 Edition), visit www.linguisystems.com
Vocabulary
A child’s expressive vocabulary grows rapidly from the time of his first word at approximately 12 months, through first grade. Vocabulary increases throughout an individual’s lifetime due to education, reading, and life experiences.
AGE | APPROXIMATE WORDS IN EXPRESSIVE VOCABULARY
12 months — 2 to 6 words other than mama and dada
15 months — 10 words
18 months — 50 words
24 months — 200-300 words
30 months — 450 words
3 years — 1,000 words
42 months — 1,200 words
4 years — 1,600 words
54 months — 1,900 words
5 years — 2,200-2,500 words
6 years — 2,600-7,000 words
12 years — 50,000 words
Source: LinguiSystems, Inc. — To download the complete GUIDE TO COMMUNICATION MILESTONES (2009 Edition), visit www.linguisystems.com
Concepts
Listening to something is not the same as hearing it. Listening skills involve a child’s ability to attend to and process what he hears. These skills are integral components of a child’s speech and language, social, and academic development.
1 - 2 years
• Follows simple spatial directions, such as in and on
• Understands another
• Uses simple directional terms, such as up and down
• Uses two or three prepositions, such as on, in, or under
2 – 3 years
• Distinguishes between in and under, one and many
• Understands number concepts of one and two
• Understands size differences, such as big/little
• Understands in, off, on, under, out of, together, away from
• Begins to understand time concepts of soon, later, wait
• Selects three that are the same from a set of four objects
• Selects the object that is not the same from four objects with three of them identical
• Begins to use adjectives for color and size
3 – 4 years
• Follows quantity directions empty, a lot
• Follows equality directions same, both
• Understands next to, beside, between
• Identifies colors
• Matches one-to-one
• Points to object that is different from others
• Uses position concepts behind, in front, around
4 – 5 years
• Understands comparative and superlative adjectives, such as big, bigger, biggest
• Understands time concepts yesterday, today, tomorrow, first, then, next, days of the week, last week, next week
• Understands different, nearest, through, thin, whole
• Identifies positional concepts first, middle, last
5 – 6 years
• Understands opposite concepts, such as big/little, over/under
• Understands left/right
• Understands number concepts up to 20
• Answers “How are things the same/different?”
• Uses adjectives for describing
• Uses comparative adjectives, such as loud, louder
• Uses yesterday and tomorrow
• Uses adverb concepts backward and forward
• Uses prepositions through, nearest, corner, middle
• Names ordinal numbers, such as first, second, third
Source: LinguiSystems, Inc. — To download the complete GUIDE TO COMMUNICATION MILESTONES (2009 Edition), visit www.linguisystems.com
Literacy
SLPs’ knowledge of normal and disordered language acquisition, and their clinical experience in developing individualized programs for children and adolescents, prepare them to assume a variety of roles related to the development of reading and writing. Appropriate roles and responsibilities for SLPs include, but are not limited to (a) preventing written language problems by fostering language acquisition and emergent literacy; (b) identifying children at risk for reading and writing problems; (c) assessing reading and writing; (d) providing intervention and documenting outcomes for reading and writing; and (e) assuming other roles, such as providing assistance to general education teachers, parents, and students; advocating for effective literacy practices; and advancing the knowledge base (ASHA, 2001). This chart lists reasonable expectations of literacy skills in children from infancy through seven years of age.
3 – 12 months
• Likes to chew and pat books
• Can focus on large and bright pictures in a book
• Shares books with an adult as routine part of life
1 - 2 years
• Recognizes certain books by their covers
• Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes
• Likes to turn pages
• Attends to a book or a toy for two minutes
• Points to and labels pictures independently
• Pretends to read books
2 - 3 years
• Likes to listen to books/stories for longer periods of time
• Holds a book correctly
• Begins to recognize logos (e.g., McDonald’s Golden Arches)
• Begins to show a difference in writing versus drawing
3 - 4 years
• Begins to pay attention to specific print, such as the first letter of his name
• Recognizes logos and other environmental print and understands that print carries a message
• Identifies some letters and makes letter/sound matches
• Participates in rhyming games
• Talks about characters in a book
• Likes to “read” stories to herself and others
• Protests if an adult changes the story
• Produces some letter-like forms in scribbles that resemble letters
4 - 5 years
• Understands story sequence
• Understands the function and purpose of print
• Knows many letter names
• Uses more letter-like forms than scribbles
Kindergarten
• Recognizes letters and letter-sound matches
• Understands that print is read left to right and top to bottom
• Retells simple stories
• Begins to write letters and some words heard often
• Begins to write stories with some readable parts with assistance
• Tries to spell words when writing
End of Kindergarten
• Understands that spoken words are made up of sounds
• Recognizes some words by sight
• Identifies and writes uppercase and lowercase letters
• “Reads” a few picture books from memory
• Prints own first and last name
Beginning of First Grade
• Identifies an increasing number of words by sight
• Begins to decode new words independently
• Uses a variety of reading strategies such as rereading, predicting what will happen, asking questions, or using visual cues or pictures
• Reads and retells familiar stories
• Reads aloud with ease
• Decides independently to use reading and writing for different purposes
• Sounds out and represents major sounds in words when trying to spell
• Tries to use some punctuation and capitalization
End of First Grade
• Identifies letters, words, and sentences
• Has a sight vocabulary of 100 words
• Understands what is read
• Creates rhyming words
• Reads grade-level material fluently
• Expresses ideas through writing
• Prints clearly
• Spells frequently-used words correctly
• Begins sentences with capital letters and attempts to use punctuation
• Writes a variety of stories, journal entries, or notes
Source: LinguiSystems, Inc. — To download the complete GUIDE TO COMMUNICATION MILESTONES (2009 Edition), visit www.linguisystems.com
Pragmatics
Birth – 6 months
• Startles to loud sounds
• Responds to voice and sound
• Turns head toward sound source
• Watches speaker’s face when spoken to
• Discriminates between strangers and familiar people
• Stops crying when spoken to
• Varies responses to different family members
• Smiles when spoken to
• Has a social smile
• Uses babbling for gaining attention and expressing demand
• Establishes eye contact
6 – 12 months
• Responds to “no”
• Responds to name and pats image of self in mirror
• Points to learn new vocabulary
• Tries to “talk” to listener
• Coos and squeals for attention
• Laughs when playing with objects
• Tries to communicate by actions and gestures
• Smiles at self in mirror
• Plays pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo games
• Copies simple actions of others
• Shouts to attract attention
1 – 2 years
• Follows simple directions, especially with a gestural cue
• Waves bye-bye
• Indicates wet pants
• Repeats actions that made someone laugh
• Engages in parallel play
• Pairs gestures with words to make wants known (e.g., “more” and “up”)
• Imitates adult behaviors in play
• Refers to self by name
• Exhibits verbal turn-taking
• Protests by vocalizing “no”
• Engages in simple pretend play, such as talking on a telephone
• Says “bye” and other social words, such as “hi,” “thank you,” and “please”
• Talks to self during play
• Practices intonation, sometimes imitating an adult
2 – 3 years
• Watches other children and briefly joins in their play
• Participates in associative play
• Requests permission for items or activities
• Begins to use language for fantasies, jokes, and teasing
• Makes conversational repairs when listener does not understand
• Engages in longer dialogues
• Begins to play house
• Participates in simple group activities
• Defends own possessions
• Carries on “conversation” with self and dolls
• Engages in simple, make-believe activities
• Begins to control behavior verbally rather than just physically
• Holds up fingers to tell age
• Looks for missing toys
• Helps put things away
3 – 4 years
• Follows two-step related directions without cues
• Takes turns and plays cooperatively
• Relates personal experiences through verbalization
• Separates from primary caregiver easily
• Frequently practices conversation skills by talking to self
• Begins dramatic play, acting out whole scenes
• Shows frustration if not understood
• Expresses ideas and feelings
4 – 5 years
• Follows three-step directions without cues
• Uses direct requests with justification (e.g., “Stop that. You’re hurting me.”)
• Uses words to invite others to play
• Uses language to resolve disputes with peers
• Plays competitive exercise games
• Has good control of the elements of conversation
• Speaks of imaginary conditions, such as “What if …” or “I hope …”
5 – 6 years
• Begins to use word plays
• Uses threats and promises
• Asks meanings of words
• Likes to complete projects
• Makes purchases at stores
• Asks questions for information
• Chooses own friends
• Takes more care in communicating with unfamiliar people
• Engages in cooperative play, such as making group decisions, assigning roles, and playing fairly
• Announces topic shifts
Source: LinguiSystems, Inc. — To download the complete GUIDE TO COMMUNICATION MILESTONES (2009 Edition), visit www.linguisystems.com
Pragmatics
AGE | INTELLIGIBILITY LEVEL
19 – 24 months: 25% – 50% intelligibility
2 – 3 years: 50% – 75% intelligibility
4 – 5 years: 75% – 90% intelligibility
5+ years: 90% – 100% intelligibility
Source: LinguiSystems, Inc. — To download the complete GUIDE TO COMMUNICATION MILESTONES (2009 Edition), visit www.linguisystems.com
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