Stages of Speech and Language Milestones

The fascinating process of language development starts at birth and lasts the entirety of a person's life. Parents, guardians, and educators can more successfully assist children's communication skills if they are aware of speech and language milestones. Let's simplify the process of breaking down the major phases of language and speech development.

Birth to 6 Months: Pre-Linguistic Stage

Babies are like tiny sponges at this age, taking in sounds from their environment and starting to express themselves in simple ways.
• Cooing and Gurgling: Babies begin to make cooing noises like "oooh" and "ahhh" about 6 to 8 weeks of age.
• Voice Recognition: Babies react to calming tones and shift their heads in the direction of voices they recognize.
• Babbling Begins: Infants begin repeating phrases like "ba-ba" or "da-da" at the age of 4 to 6 months.

6 to 12 Months: Babbling to First Words

When babies start making more deliberate sound experiments, it's an exciting stage.
• Diverse Babbling: Babies start combining sounds like "ma-da-ga" by the time they are 7 to 9 months old.
• Recognizing Basic Words: They can recognize their own names and everyday words like "bye-bye" around the age of nine months.
• First Words Appear: Many newborns pronounce their first words, like "mama" or "dada," by the time they become one year old.

12 to 24 Months: Rapid Growth in Words

Language proficiency has advanced significantly over this time.
• Word Explosion: Toddlers may know between 20 and 50 words by the time they are 18 months old.
• Two-Word Combinations: At 24 months old, infants begin to form simple expressions like "big dog" or "want cookie."
• Comprehending Basic Instructions: They start to adhere to simple instructions such as "bring the ball."

2 to 3 Years: Expanding Sentences and Grammar

In order to communicate ideas more clearly, toddlers begin to tie words together.
• Three-Word Sentences: Expressions like "Daddy go work" or "I want toy" are becoming more prevalent.
• Better comprehension: They are able to obey two-step instructions like "Pick up the book and give it to me."
• Inquiring about everything: Kids begin to inquire, "What is that?" & "Why?" when interest increases.

 

3 to 5 Years: Complex Conversations

Children at this age develop into little talkers who are honing their grammar and speech.
• Complete Sentences: They use well-structured, full sentences when speaking.
• Storytelling: They are able to convey feelings, explain events, and tell short stories.
• Improved Pronunciation: Speech is generally clear, however some consonants, such "r" and "th," may still be challenging.

5+ Years: Refining and Mastering Language

Children are now competent communicators.
• Proper Grammar Use: They employ proper sentence structure, plurals, and tenses.
• Having Conversations: They take part in in-depth conversations and are amenable to humor.
• Expanding Vocabulary: They have hundreds of words by the age of six, and they pick up new ones every day.

When to Seek Help?

Every child develops at their own pace, but if a child significantly lags in speech or struggles to understand simple directions, consulting a speech-language pathologist can help.

Language development is an incredible process, and with encouragement, every child can become a confident communicator!