speech and ARTICULATION

Between 1 and 2 years:

• Says more words every month.
• Uses some one- or two- word questions ("Where kitty?" "Go bye-bye?" "What's that?").
• Puts two words together ("more cookie," "no juice," "mommy book").
• Uses many different consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Between 2 and 3 years: 

• Can be understood by family and/or caregivers most of the time.
• Correctly produces vowels and such sounds as p, m, h (by age 2), and b, d, n, w (by age 2 1/2) in words. 
• Repeats when not understood without becoming frustrated 
• Has a word for almost everything.
• Uses two- or three- words to talk about and ask for things.
• Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them.
• Asks why?
• May stutter on words or sounds

Between 3 and 4 years: 

• Be understood by individuals with whom they do not associate regularly 
• Be understood by family and/or caregivers.
• Can correctly produce g, k, t (by age 3), and f (by age 3 1/2) in words. 
• Be asked to repeat without becoming sensitive 

Between 4 and 5 years:

• Can correctly produce "ing" (by age 4), and ch, l, s, sh, j, and z (by age 5), and r and v (by age 5 1/2) in words. . 
• May make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say, like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, th in words. 
• Be understood in all situations by most listeners 
• Be asked to repeat without exhibiting frustration 

Between 6 and 7

• Can correctly produce consonant blends (e.g. gl, kl, sp, st), and both the voiced "th" ("thank you") and voiceless "th" ("teeth") in words. 

*based on the ages when 90% of sample children have acquired the sound - adapted from the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation 2 and the Clinical Assessment of Articulation and Phonology.  

**This information should be used as a reference, not as a definitive means of determining if speech services are warranted. If your child is difficult to understand or is experiencing challenges with pronunciation of sounds, please contact us for a free screening.  

LANGUAGE and literacy

Between 1 and 2 years:

• Points to a few body parts when asked.
• Follows simple commands and understands simple questions ("Roll the ball," "Kiss the baby," "Where's your shoe?").
• Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes.
• Points to pictures in a book when named.

Between 2 and 3 years:

• Understands differences in meaning ("go-stop," "in-on," "big-little," "up-down").
• Follows two requests ("Get the book and put it on the table").
• Listens to and enjoys hearing stories for longer periods of time

Between 3 and 4 years:

• Talks about activities at school or at friends' homes.
• Talks about what happened during the day. Uses about 4 sentences at a time.
• Answers simple "who?", "what?", and "where?" questions.
• Asks when and how questions.
• Says rhyming words, like hat-cat
• Uses pronouns, like I, you, me, we, and they
• Uses some plural words, like toys, birds, and buses
• Uses a lot of sentences that have 4 or more words.
• Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words.
• Enjoy listening to and talking about storybooks 
• Understand that print carries a message
• Make attempts to read and write 
• Identify familiar signs and labels 
• Identify some letters and make some letter-sound matches 
• Use known letters (or their best attempt to write the letters) to represent written language especially for meaningful words like their names or phrases such as "I love you"

Between 4 and 5 years:

• Understands words for order, like first, next, and last.
• Understands words for time, like yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
• Follows longer directions, like "Put your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and then pick out a book."
• Follows classroom directions, like "Draw a circle on your paper around something you eat.
• Talks without repeating sounds or words most of the time.
• Tells a short story.
• Keeps a conversation going.
• Talks in different ways depending on the listener and place. May use short sentences with younger children or talk louder outside than inside.
• Sound like they are reading when pretending to read 
• Enjoy being read to and retell simple stories 
• Recognize letters and letter-sound matches 
• Show familiarity with rhyming and beginning sounds 
• Understand that print is read left-to-right and top-to-bottom 
• Begin to write letters of the alphabet and some words they use and hear often 
• Begin to write stories with some readable parts

By age 6 (or first grade)

• Read and retell familiar stories
• Use a variety of ways to help with reading a story such as re-reading, predicting what will happen, asking questions, or using visual cues or pictures 
• Decide on their own to use reading and writing for different purposes 
• Read some things aloud with ease 
• Identify new words by using letter-sound matches, parts of words, and their understanding of the rest of a story or printed item 
• Identify an increasing number of words by sight
• Sound out and represent major sounds in a word when trying to spell 
• Write about topics that mean a lot to them 
• Try to use some punctuation and capitalization