Empowering Communication SkillsEmpowering Communication SkillsEmpowering Communication Skills
Milestones Guidelines
BIRTH - 3 MONTHS
BIRTH - 3 MONTHS
BIRTH - 3 MONTHS
Responds to sounds
Quiets or smiles when spoken to
Engages in back-and-forth sound interactions.
Produces sounds that vary based on their emotional state
Makes cooing sounds like "ooooo," "aahh," and "mmmmm."
Recognizes familiar faces and objects
Turns or looks toward voices or people speaking.
4 - 6 MONTHS
BIRTH - 3 MONTHS
BIRTH - 3 MONTHS
Giggles and laughs
Responds to facial expressions
Shows interest in objects by looking at and following them
Reacts to toys that make sounds
Make vocalizations during play, sometimes with objects in their mouth
Produces different vowel sounds, often combined with consonants, like "uuuuummm," "aaaaagoo," or "daaaaaa."
Blows "raspberries"
7-9 MONTHS
BIRTH - 3 MONTHS
10 - 12 MONTHS
Looks at you when you call their name
Stops momentarily when you say, "No."
Babbles long strings of sounds, like "mamamama,"
"upup," or "babababa"
Looks for loved ones when upset
Raises arms to be picked up
Recognizes the names of some people and objects
Pushes away unwanted objects
10 - 12 MONTHS
10 - 12 MONTHS
10 - 12 MONTHS
Reaches for objects by age 10 months
Points, waves, and shows or gives objects
Imitates and initiates gestures for social interactions and games (e.g., blowing kisses, playing peek-a-boo)
Tries to copy sounds you make
Enjoys dancing
Responds to simple words and phrases like "Go bye-bye" and
"Look at Mommy"
Says one or two words, such as mama, dada, hi, and bye
12 - 18 MONTHS
10 - 12 MONTHS
12 - 18 MONTHS
Looks around when asked "where" questions (e.g., "Where's your blanket?")
Follows simple directions (e.g., "Give me the ball," "Hug the teddy bear")
Points to make requests, comment, or ask for information
Shakes head for "no" and nods head for "yes"
Understands and uses words for common objects, actions, and people
Identifies one or more body parts
Uses gestures when excited or playful (e.g., clapping, high-five, making funny faces
Uses a combination of sounds, syllables, and real words with speech-like inflection
2 - 3 YEARS
10 - 12 MONTHS
12 - 18 MONTHS
Uses word combinations often, but may occasionally repeat words or phrases (e.g., "baby - baby - baby sit down" or "I want - I want juice")
Tries to get your attention by saying, "Look at me!"
Says their name when asked
Uses some plural words (e.g., birds, toys)
Uses -ing verbs (e.g., eating, running) and adds -ed to indicate past actions (e.g., looked, played)
Gives reasons for things and events (e.g., saying they need a coat when it's cold outside
Asks "why" and "how"
Answers questions like "What do you do when you are sleepy?" or
"Which one can you wear?"
Correctly produces p, b, m, h, w, d, and n in words
Correctly produces most vowels in words
Speech is becoming clearer, but may still be hard to understand for unfamiliar listeners
3 - 4 YEARS
3 - 4 YEARS
3 - 4 YEARS
Compares things using words like "bigger" or "shorter"
Tells stories from books or videos
Understands and uses location words like "inside," "on," and "under"
Uses articles like "a" or "the" (e.g., "a book" or "the dog")
Pretends to read alone or with others
Recognizes signs and logos, like STOP
Pretends to write or spell and can write some letters
Correctly produces t, k, g, f, y, and -ing in words
Says all syllables in a word
Says sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of words
By age 4, talks smoothly and rarely repeats sounds, words, or phrases
By age 4, is mostly understandable, though may still make mistakes with sounds like 1, j, r, sh, ch, s, v, z, and th
By age 4, says all sounds in consonant clusters (e.g., tw in "tweet" or nd in "sand"), though may not produce all sounds correctly (e.g., "spway" for "spray")
4 - 5 YEARS
3 - 4 YEARS
3 - 4 YEARS
Produces grammatically correct, longer, and more complex sentences
Includes main characters, settings, and uses words like "and" or "to" to connect ideas in stories
Uses at least one irregular plural form (e.g., feet, men)
Understands and uses location words like "behind," "beside," and
"between"
Uses words for time (e.g., "yesterday,""tomorrow") correctly
Follows simple directions and game rules
Locates the front of a book and its title
Recognizes and names 10 or more letters and can usually write their own name
Imitates reading and writing from left to right
Blends word parts (e.g., cup + cake = cupcake) and identifies some rhyming words (e.g., cat and hat
Produces most consonants correctly, and speech is understandable in conversation
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