Developmental Stages 0-5

What to expect in the first five years – listening and talking

How do you know if your child’s language and listening skills are developing normally? Individual children develop their talking and listening skills at different rates. Despite this there is a general pattern to children’s language and speech development.

By the age of one, your baby should be able to:

respond to familiar sounds, such as the telephone ringing, the vacuum cleaner, or the car in the driveway
understand simple commands, such as “no”
recognise their own name
understand the names of familiar objects or people
say “dad”, “mumma” and a few other words
enjoy songs, music and books
try to make familiar sounds, such as car and animal noises

By the age of two, your toddler should be able to:

say the names of simple body parts, such as nose or tummy
listen to stories and say the names of pictures
understand simple sentences, such as “where’s your shoe?”
use more than fifty words such as “no, “gone”, “mine”, “teddy”
talk to themselves or their toys during play
sing simple songs, such as “Twinkle, twinkle, little star”, or Baa baa black sheep”
use some pronouns instead of names, such as “he, “it”
try simple sentences, such as “milk all gone”

By the age of three, your child should be able to:

understand how objects are used – a crayon as something to draw with
recognise their own needs, such as hunger
follow directions
use three to four word sentences
begin to use basic grammar
enjoy telling stories and asking questions
have favourite books and television programs
be understood by familiar adults

By the age of four, your child should be able to :

understand shape and colour names
understand some “time”, words, such as lunch time, today, winter
ask who, what and why questions
use lots of words, about 900, usually in four to five word sentences
use correct grammar with occasional mistakes, such as “I falled down”
use language when playing with other children
speak clearly enough to be understood by most people

By the age of five, your child should be able to:

understand opposites, such as high and low, wet and dry, big and small
use sentences of about six words with correct grammar
talk about events which are happening, have happened or might happen
explain why something happens, such as “Mum’s car stopped because the petrol ran out”
explain the function of objects; follow basic 3 step instructions (i.e. “Stand up, get your shoes on and wait by the door”)
say how they feel and and tell you their ideas
become interested in writing, numbers and reading
speak clearly enough to be understood by anyone

References: Speech Pathology Australia

Quick Referral Guide

Early Indications

experienced frequent colds or ear infections
had early hearing difficulties
had feeding difficulties
took longer then expected to start speaking
didn’t use a lot of babble
difficulty adjusting to change in routine or new experiences such as attending child care or kinder

Speech

is hard to understand when speaking
mispronounces sounds or words
leaves sounds off the beginning or ends of words
cannot say certain sounds when prompted
slurs when speaking

Language

doesn’t say many words
is not yet speaking in sentences
uses language that sounds disorganised
uses incorrect grammar or choice of words
cannot follow a conversation
has trouble following instructions
has difficulty understanding others
gets frustrated when communicating with others
has difficulty maintaining eye contact and taking turns in conversation
difficulty remembering information

Communication Milestones: Speech Pathology Australia

If your child is aged 4-5 years and you have concerns about their pre reading, speech, language, social communication or fluency skills prior to commencing school ask about our Screening Program