Healthy Child Development

There are several stages of healthy speech & language development that are marked by key abilities.  

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By 6 months

• Turns to source of sounds

• Startles in response to sudden loud noises

• Makes different cries for different needs i.e., hungry, tired

• Watches the face of parent/caregiver as they talk

• Smiles/laughs in response to parent/caregiver smiles and laughter

• Imitates coughs or other sounds such as “ah,” “eh,” buh”

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By 9 months

• Responds to his or her name

• Turns to look for a source of sound, or responds to the telephone or a knock at the door

• Understands being told “no”, and other short instructions

• Imitates facial expressions

• Gets attention or help, or what they want, through gestures e.g. reaching to be picked up and sounds

• Plays social games with parent/caregiver e.g. peek-a-boo

• Enjoys being around people

• Fusses or cries if familiar caregiver looks or behaves differently

• Babbles and repeats sounds such as “babababa” or “duhduhduh”

• Mouths and chews on objects

• Looks for dropped object or hidden toy

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By 12 months

• Follows simple one-step directions such as “Sit down”, “Find your shoes”

• Follows simple requests and questions such as “Where is the ball?”

• Looks across the room to something when an adult points to it

• Consistently uses three or more ‘words’ such as “dada” or “mama,” using the same sounds to indicate same object or person, even if these ‘words’ are not pronounced accurately

• Uses specific gestures to communicate needs or to protest e.g. waves hi/bye, shakes head “no”

• Gets attention using sounds, gestures and pointing while looking at the eyes of parent/caregiver

• Brings/extends toys to show parent/caregiver

• “Performs” for social attention and praise

• Combines lots of sounds together as though talking e.g. “abada baduh abee”

• Shows an interest in simple picture books

• Starts and plays social games with parent/
  caregiver; takes turns e.g. “peek-a-boo,”
  “patty cake”

• Finger-feeds him/herself some foods

• Holds, bites and chews crackers

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By 18 months

• Understands the concepts of “in and out,” “off and on”

• Points to three or more body parts when asked

• Responds with words or gestures to simple questions e.g. “Where’s teddy?”, “What’s that?”

• Uses at least 20 words consistently, even if not clear

• Makes at least four different consonant sounds e.g. p, b, m, n, d, g, w, h

• Enjoys being read to and sharing simple books

• Points to familiar pictures using one finger

• Demonstrates some pretend play with toys e.g. gives teddy a drink, pretends a bowl is a hat

By 2 years

• Follows two-step directions e.g. “Go find your teddy bear and show it to grandma”

• Uses 100 or more words

• Uses at least two pronouns such as “you,”
  “me,” “mine”

• Consistently combines two to four words in short phrases e.g. “daddy hat,” “truck go down”

• Forms words/sounds easily and effortlessly

• Uses words that are understood by others 50 to 60 per cent of the time

• Enjoys being around other children

• Begins to offer toys to peers and imitate other children’s actions and words

• Holds books the right way up and turns pages one at a time

• “Reads” to stuffed animals or toys

• Scribbles with a writing utensil

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By 2½ years

• Understands the concepts of size such as big/little and quantity such as a little/a lot, more

• Uses some adult grammar e.g. “two cookies,” “bird flying,” “I jumped”

• Uses more than 350 words

• Uses action words e.g., run, spill, fall

• Produces words with two or more syllables or beats e.g. “ba-na-na,” “com-pu-ter,” “a-pple”

• Uses consonant sounds at the beginning of words e.g. “big” instead of “ig”

• Begins taking short turns with peers, using both words and toys

• Demonstrates concern when another child is hurt/sad

• Demonstrates pretend play involving several actions e.g. feeds dolls and then puts them to sleep; puts blocks in train then drives train and drops blocks off

• Recognizes familiar logos and signs involving print e.g. golden arches of McDonalds,
  “Stop” sign

• Remembers and understands familiar stories

• Speaks in sentences of at least three words

• Tries to join in with singing songs or making rhymes

• Recognizes self in a mirror or a photo

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By 3 years

• Understands “who,” “what,” “where” and
  “why” questions

• Creates long sentences using five or more words

• Talks about past events e.g. trip to grandparents’ house, day at childcare

• Tells simple stories

• Understood by most people outside of the family, most of the time

• Shows affection for favourite playmates

• Engages in multi-step pretend play with actions and words e.g. pretending to cook a meal or repair a car

• Understands and uses some describing words e.g. “big,” “dirty,” “wet”

• Joins in play with a group of two or more peers

• Listens to stories or music for five minutes with an adult

• Aware of the function of print e.g. in menus, lists, signs

• Beginning interest in, and awareness of, rhyming

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By 4 years

• Follows directions involving three or more steps e.g. “Get some paper, draw a picture, and give it to mom”

• Shows four colours when asked

• Asks and answers a lot of questions e.g. “Why?”, “What are you doing?”

• Uses adult-type grammar

• Tells stories with a clear beginning, middle and end

• Talks with adults and other children to try to solve problems

• Speaks clearly enough to be understood by strangers almost all the time

• Demonstrates increasingly complex imaginative play using words, characters, action and interactions with peers

• Able to generate simple rhymes e.g. “cat-bat”

• Matches some letters with their sounds e.g. “letter T says ‘tuh’

• Enjoys singing children’s songs

• Participates with peers in small group activities, sharing and taking turn e.g. catch, snakes and ladders

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By 5 years

• Follows group directions e.g. “All the boys get a toy”

• Understands directions involving “if…then” e.g., “If you’re wearing runners, then line up for gym”

• Describes past, present and future events in detail

• Uses almost all of the sounds of their language with few to no errors

• Seeks to please his/her friends

• Shows increasing independence in friendships

• Knows all the letters of the alphabet

• Identifies the sounds at the beginning of some words e.g., “Pop starts with the ‘puh’ sound”

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... If a child is missing one or more of these expected age outcomes, consider this a red flag