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Ollie's Childhood
This childhood span ranges from Ollie's birth (January 7, 2013) to the time he turns 6 (January 7, 2019). The different colors indicate different domains of language he is exemplifying. Pastel Mint: Phonology
Pastel Purple: Semantics
Pastel Blue: Pragmatics
Pastel Yellow: Syntax and Morphology -
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Infant Milestones
Here is the timeline of Ollie's childhood from birth to 1 year of age. -
Semantics - Birth
When a child is born, they begin looking toward sources of sounds that are nearby. This causes a startle in response.
Ollie immediately moves his head toward Mom when she drops a large pan on the ground. He starts crying after due to being startled. -
Phonology - Birth
After birth, babies are able to differentiate between languages following different rhythmic patterns.
Grandma gets to come for the week and spend time with baby Ollie. When she speaks to him in English he turns his head but not when she speaks Russian. -
Pragmatics - Birth
A newborn typically prefers attending to adults that use infant-directed speech compared to adult-directed speech.
Ollie spends quality time with Dad while he's using infant-direct speech. When dad uses "baby talk" Ollie starts to smile more than standard speaking. -
Phonology - 2 months
At around 2 months of age, babies begin producing "cooing" and "gooing" sounds.
Ollie lays on his back on a soft mat with toys in front of him. He starts cooing at the toys when having fun playing. -
Semantics - 2 months
During the time period of 2 months, babies start to observe and analyze objects they have. Sometimes this results in objects being placed in the mouth.
Ollie is fascinated with his new toys and inspects them when they make sounds. He then puts them in his mouth to suck on them! -
Pragmatics - 2 months
While in a public, 2 month year old babies are able to be aware of the presence of strangers. They briefly look at people as they assess unfamiliar situations.
Mom takes Ollie on a stroll in the park. He observes other people's behaviors as they walk by or even stop to say hello. He is expressionless when a stranger is talking to him compared to Mom. -
Pragmatics - 4 months
At the age of 4 months, a child should be able to recognize their own name and even fix their attention on an individual's face.
Mom calls Ollie's name to get his attention. When he looks in her direction she starts making silly faces. Ollie's eyes are glued on mom while she does this. -
Phonology - 4 months
There are many phonological advancements that can occur around 4 months of age. One example of this is producing sounds like growling. Other examples are producing vowel sounds, vowel glides, and squeals.
The dog comes over to sniff Ollie and starts playing with him. The dog and Ollie growl at each other back and forth as Ollie plays with his new sounds. -
Semantics - 4 months
When a baby is around 4 months old, they are able to differentiate when an event has occurred on purpose or accidentally.
Dad spills the leftovers all over the ground when trying to heat up some food and lets out a sigh. Ollie becomes still after recognizing the accident that happened. -
Pragmatics - 6 months
For a infant at 6 months, they are able to start engaging in joint attention. Otherwise known as the caregiver and child focusing on the same object or event.
Dad and Ollie are on a stroll through the park and they both notice a Kite hanging. Dad bends down to Ollie's level and they have joint attention on the floating kite. -
Semantics - 6 months
Around 6 months, a child is able to understand when a caregiver tells them no. They are also able to mimic those around.
Ollie was patting the cat and pulls on the tail to bring her closer. Mom says no in a quick tone and Ollie immediately stops. He imitates the frown on Mom's face in response. -
Phonology - 6 months
Phonological developments are occurring rapidly around 6 months of age. One example during this time is when a child separates individual words from a flowing sentence of words.
Each time Mom says the word "car" Ollie puts his hands out indicating he wants to play with it. However, if mom uses car in a sentence, Ollie does not recognize "car" was used. -
Phonology - 8 months
Out of the many examples of phonological milestones for an 8 month, one example is babbling. This babbling can include reduplicated or variegated depending on the child.
Dad and Ollie are playing with their sounds. Ollie begins saying "ba ba ba" and "da da da." -
Semantics - 8 months
For an 8 month, they have the ability to experiment with hidden objects. This includes looking in the direction of objects out of place and searching for a hidden object.
Ollie and Mom play Peek-a-boo frequently. This time, she hides a small block in her hand and Ollie reaches out his hand and squeals knowing the block is still in her hand. -
Pragmatics - 8 months
An 8 month year old will begin using intentional communication in different forms. This could include requesting, greeting, protesting, rejecting, responding, and more without using spoken words.
Dad attempts to feed Ollie with some peas during dinner time. Ollie screams very loudly in protest. -
Phonology - 10/12 months
Between the time of 10 to 12 months of age, an infant will begin identifying more complex kinds of words from functional words to words that do not follow their native language pattern. They also begin to use jargon babbling to communicate.
Ollie holds on to Mom's phone and is using jargon babble to communicate with Grandpa. Grandpa goes along with it and they have a conversation using intonational phrases. -
Pragmatics - 10/12 months
An infant from 10 to 12 months of age begins using imperative pointing. This means they are requesting for help from their caregiver through pointing.
Ollie drops his stuffed bear while shopping for Christmas presents in the cart. He points at it and starts kicking his legs requesting for it to be picked up. -
Semantics - 10/12 months
Fairly close to 12 months of age, a child is known to produce their first words with meaning.
Ollie is wanting to be picked up and says "dada" with his hands up for dad to pick him up. He says his first word! -
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Toddler Milestones
Here is the timeline of Ollie's childhood from 1 to 3 years of age. -
Pragmatics - 12 months
Around 12 months, children begin to use referential gestures. They also begin to infer underlying intentions in other's actions.
Dad comes home from a long day of work very exhausted. He rubs his eyes while he is sitting on the couch with Ollie. Seeing this, Ollie puts his hands to his face like he is pretending to sleep. -
Semantics - 12 months
During this exciting 12 month stage of pragmatics, children speak their first word.
Ollie's first word was "dada" as he acknowledges his dad. Soon after he is able to use "mama" as well. -
Phonology - 12 months
Along with being able to speak their first word, this stage is also when children are able to utter mostly unintelligible speech, except for a few words.
Ollie will call "mama" or "dada" to get their attention before he uses baby jargon to have a unintelligible conversation with them. -
Syntax & Morphology - 12 months
A child around 12 month's language will consist mainly of single nouns.
Ollie is able to say words like "dada," "mama," "cat," and "dog" at this point. -
Semantics - 16 months
Once a child enters into this stage of semantic production, they should be able to produce and use around three to twenty words.
As they go to park, Ollie is able to expand on his vocabulary with "bird," "tree," "ball," and many. -
Phonology - 16 months
During this stage of phonological production, children should be able to produce about twenty-five percent of all words intelligibly.
When Ollie says the word "tree" he pronounces it without the r and uses the /d/ sound for /t/ to say "dee." He is able to say mostly consonants pretty clearly. -
Syntax & Morphology - 16 months
Once a child surpasses the sixteen-month stage, they will enter into Brown's Stage 1, meaning they will have a Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) of about 1.31.
Ollie is starting to be able to combine words. When he wants something he might say "Mama milk" or "Daddy ball." -
Pragmatics - 16 months
In this stage of pragmatic understanding, children will begin using the skill of verbal turn-taking.
Ollie has sing along time with Mom! He sings in his pretend microphone for a bit then he gives it to Mom for her to sing. They go back and forth doing this for a while. -
Phonology - 20 months
During this stage of phonological processing, children begin to process spoken words incrementally, meaning that when someone is speaking to them they are breaking down each word for understanding.
Mom asks Ollie "Do you want to play together?" Ollie Understands want and play so he goes to their play area. However, when mom gets their he looks confused not understanding the meaning of together. Mom then asks "Do you want me and you to play?" and Ollie understands. -
Syntax & Morphology - 20 months
A child's MLU would be expected to increase to about 1.62 during this stage. It would also be expected that they begin to use grammatical morphemes such as "drinking".
Ollie is moving quickly around the house as he is chasing the dog. Mom asks him "What are you doing?" Ollie responds with "Running! Get dog!" -
Pragmatics - 20 months
The use of pragmatics for a child around the age of twenty months would consist of gesture-word combinations, and also two-gesture combinations.
Ollie and Mom are waiting for a check up in the doctors office. Ollie is playing with the toys and comes to mom showing her something. He says "Mama, cars!" He is showing her the cars that are different to what he has at home. -
Semantics - 20 months
In this stage of semantics, children produce around fifty words. These words include verbs and adjectives.
While Dad is outside cleaning up the garden, Ollie is playing in his play set. He sees a butterfly flying around. "Dada, a pretty butterfly!" -
Syntax & Morphology - 24 months
A child around the age of twenty-four months is expected to enter Brown's Stage 2. This would mean that their MLU would be at around 1.92.
Ollie is beginning to mostly use at least 2 words when communicating. Sometimes even three. He might use small phrases like "We play now." -
Semantics - 24 months
During this stage of semantical processing, children are able to comprehend about five-hundred words. They can also produce about two-hundred words.
When Dad and Ollie are playing he is able to understand where all his body parts are. Dad can say "Show me your eyes, nose, and mouth." Even if Ollie doesn't use those words, he can still point to them. -
Phonology - 24 months
Once a child is around twenty-four months of age, it would be expected that they produce up to sixty-five percent of words intelligibly. They also begin asking questions using rising intonation.
Ollie sees Mom pull out his bathing suit after doing laundry to clean it. He asks "We go swim today?" with his intonation going up toward the end of the question. -
Pragmatics - 24 months
A child in this stage of pragmatics would begin using different language functions, such as imaginative to tell stories. They may also use the heuristic language function to gain information about different topics of interest.
Dad and Ollie begin playing with dinosaurs and dragons. Ollie exclaims "Dragons coming! We need to hide!" as they pretend. -
Semantics - 28 months
Around the age of twenty-eight months, a child will begin to place new words into existing sentence structure as well as overgeneralize.
At the store, Ollie sees a firetruck but doesn't know what he is. Mom tells him it's a firetruck and he says "I like the firetruck!" -
Phonology - 28 months
At this stage in phonological production, children will produce about seventy percent of words intelligibly. Children may also engage in standard phonological processes during this stage, such as final consonant deletion, or substitution of consonants.
While Ollie's vocabulary is expanding, his phonological processes are not at the same level. He tends to use final consonant deletion. Saying "ca" for "can" or "ee" for "eat." -
Syntax & Morphology - 28 months
This is the stage in which children will enter Brown's Stage 3, meaning they can produce present progressive with great skill.
While Ollie playing with play-doh he exclaims to Dad "I'm making snakes!" He then wiggles them around the table and says "Look! They're moving!" -
Pragmatics - 28 months
Once a child is around twenty-eight months of age, they may start to engage in short dialogues with social partners. They may also begin changing topics mid-discussion.
Ollie is petting the cat and is talking to Mom about how soft the cat is. While talking about the cat, Ollie jumps up and says "Oh can we play outside? Please!" It came out of nowhere and took Mom by surprise. -
Phonology - 32/36 months
A child in the range of thirty-two to thirty-six months old should no longer be engaging in the phonological processes from the previous stage. They should also be producing eighty percent of there words intelligibly.
When speaking, Ollie is now able to pronounce the end consonants in his words. When he asks questions like "Can I have milk?" the endings are clear. -
Syntax & Morphology - 32/36 months
A child in this stage of syntactic and morphological production, children should have an MLU of about 3.
Ollie is using about 3-5 words in a good portion of his phrases. He commonly said "I love you!" and "Can we play?" to both of his parents. -
Semantics - 32/36 months
At this stage of semantic development, a child would be expected to comprehend about nine hundred words and be able to produce five hundred. They may also engage in asking questions.
Ollie becomes very curious about the world around him. He starts asking questions like "Why is the dog and the cat furry?" to find out more information. -
Pragmatics - 32/36 months
Once a child is in the thirty-two/thirty-six age range, they would be expected to ask for clarification when needed in conversation, and also clarify themselves.
When Ollie is speaking really fast, Dad has a hard time understanding him. Whenever he asks for clarification, Ollie repeats himself slower than before. -
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Preschool Milestones
Here is the timeline of Ollie's childhood from 3 to 5 years of age. -
Phonology - 36 months
At this age, children begin to develop shallow phonological awareness capabilities.
Ollie begins to play with sounds in his words! He likes to say fun rhyming words like cat and hat. -
Semantics - 36 months
Once a child enters this stage of semantic processing, they begin to use different pronouns such as they, them, and us.
While in the car Ollie is watching outside his window and exclaims "Look! They have ice cream! I want ice cream!" -
Syntax & Morphology - 36 months
Around thirty-six months, children are expected to start using complex sentences, using and. Their sentences also grow to be around four to five words.
Ollie starts combining his simple sentences together. While at the movies he picks out his favorite candy by saying "I like the gummies and chocolate!" -
Pragmatics - 36 months
One a child is older than thirty-six months they begin to engage in longer dialogue.
Before bed, Ollie loves having conversations with his dad. They go back and forth talking about the book they are reading and engaging in longer periods of speaking interaction. -
Phonology - 40 months
At this stage in phonological processing, children continue to nurture their skills in articulation.
At this point, Ollie is becoming more intelligible in his speech. In the park he is able to say "rabbit" when he sees one passing by. Previously he could only say "wabbit." -
Syntax & Morphology - 40 months
A child at forty months of age would be expected to continue using pronouns, and begin using adverbs pertaining to time.
Mom and Ollie are laying out by the pool. Ollie sees a boy running by and says "He's running too fast! He needs to stop now!" -
Semantics - 40 months
During this stage in semantics, a child is able to use about 1,500 words, and can understand about 2,000. They also start to understand some relational words.
Ollie is describing both of his parents in a dinner conversation. He says "Daddy is tall and Mommy is short" where tall and short are the relational words. -
Pragmatics - 40 months
In this stage of pragmatic development, children begin to make conversational repairs.
When eating dinner, Ollie exclaims "I ated, no ate this chicken yesterday too!" -
Phonology - 44 months
At forty-four months, it would be expected that children has mastered most consonants.
When speaking, Ollie is able to use more advanced sounds clearly. While playing in the backyard, Ollie finds a garden snake and is able to pronounce the /s/ clearly. -
Pragmatics - 44 months
Understanding indirect requests with non-verbal pointing is a hallmark of this stage in pragmatics.
Dad is sitting on the couch watching TV with Ollie. They realize mom left her cup in the living room. Dad points to the cup and asks "Can you bring this to Mommy?" Ollie gets up and takes the cup to Mom. -
Syntax & Morphology - 44 months
A child in this stage of syntax and morphology would most likely be very confident when using articles, past tense, and contractions.
Ollie and Mom are at the store starting to look for present. They find an isle of toys and Ollie declares "Mommy I want a new toy! Please!" ("a" being the article) -
Semantics - 44 months
For this stage of semantics, children begin to use the skill of narrowing to find possible meanings of new words. They also understand some kinship terms.
Aunt Kelly and Uncle Tony are coming home from California from the weekend. Ollie is excited and exclaims "Auntie and Uncle are gonna be here soon!" -
Semantics - 48 months
The pronouns that begin to emerge in this stage would include himself, herself, and itself.
The cat was chasing his tail and frustrating himself since he couldn't get to his tail. Ollie noticed and said "The cat is making himself mad!" -
Phonology - 48 months
The use of phonological processes, for example cluster reduction, would be expected to continue to decrease in this stage of phonology.
Ollie's phonemes are continue to become clearer. When driving with Mom to run errands, he sees a blue car and points to it saying "I like that blue car!" He used to say "boo" and now he is able to pronounce the /bl/ sound in the beginning of the word. -
Pragmatics - 48 months
A child in this stage of pragmatic processing would start to develop true narratives. They should also begin using interpretive, participatory, and organizing functions.
Ollie spent the day with his extended family. When he got home Mom asked him what they did. He responded with "First we walked the dog. We went to the store. After we got icecream!" -
Syntax & Morphology - 48 months
The sentences that would be expected for a child forty-eight months of age would include four to seven word. These sentences may also include the use of irregular third person verbs.
While playing a board game with dad, a bird outside starts singing near the window. Ollie hops up and exclaims "The bird sings pretty!" -
Syntax & Morphology - 52 months
Once a child is in this stage of syntax and morphology, they would be expected to use irregular plural forms consistently.
Ollie is practicing getting ready for bed by himself. He runs to his mom and says "Look I brushed my teeth!" -
Semantics - 52 months
Children that are fifty-two months of age begin using "what" questions. Such as "what did..." and "what does..." questions.
Dad went to the grocery store to pick up necessary food items. When he came back Ollie asked "What did you get?" -
Pragmatics - 52 months
Use of indirect requests is this hallmark of this stage in pragmatic development.
When making arts and crafts at Preschool, Ollie is struggling to piece to parts together. He asks his teacher "Can you help me glue?" -
Phonology - 52 months
Children in this stage of phonological production have very intelligible connected speech. They have most likely also mastered majority of their consonant sounds, although they may still be challenging in certain contexts.
While at the zoo, Ollie points out "lions are my favorite animal!" His speech is mostly connected except for animal. He pronounces is "aminal." -
Pragmatics - 56/60 months
Children in this stage begin to tell narratives that have an in-tact sequence of events, but these narratives do not contain a specific main character or theme.
Ollie tells his dad about his day with mom as he comes home. He says they went to a park to walk the dog, he made a new friend at the park, they went to pick up dinner and after that they came back home. He also makes additional side comments about how chicken is his favorite food and he wishes cats would walk on leashes like dogs. -
Phonology - 56/60 months
Around sixty months, a child would be expected to have the phonological awareness of the letters that make up their specific name. They may also still have some persistent phonological processing, such as liquid gliding.
Ollie is very excited that he learned how to spell his name at preschool. He comes home repeating "O-L-L-I-E" multiple times. -
Semantics - 56/60 months
At this stage children can produce and use about 2,000 words, and they can comprehend around 2,800. They would also be expected to use deictic terms such as this, that, here, and there.
While at home with Mom, Ollie points to a drink in the fridge and says "Can I have that?" When Mom asks where he wants the drink, he points to his little desk and says "Right here please!" -
Syntax & Morphology - 56/60 months
Once a child reaches this stage of syntax and morphology, they should be able to combine five to eight words in a sentence.
The dog is doing tricks with Ollie outside. When Ollie comes back inside he tells dad, "The dog can jump high for a treat!" -
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Primary School Milestones
Here is the timeline of Ollie's childhood from 5 to 6 years of age. -
Phonology - 5 to 6 years
By this point, a child should be able to manipulate and blend phonemes within morphophonemic rules.
Prior to this stage, when Ollie would see a bee he would say "bus" for "buzz." However, he is now able to pronounce the voiced /z/ sound in "buzz." -
Syntax & Morphology - 5 to 6 years
During this stage, children are able to use some passive voice as well as infer the meaning of new words.
For example, during shopping Mom points out how Ollie needs a backpack for school in the fall. He was able to learn the meaning of this word by breaking apart the word into "back" and "pack." He responds to Mom with "it will go on my back?" to clarify. -
Pragmatics - 5 to 6 years
By this point, it is possible for children to use four types of narratives in conversations.
Ollie has been watching football with Dad more recently. He likes pretending to speak in the "sophisticated" voice when recalling events. Ollie calls it his fancy voice and will say narratives of "And now the dog is running around the room! He is trying to get the ball. Look at him go!" -
Semantics - 5 to 6 years
Children are able to learn reading by their decoding skills.
Ollie and Mom are at a children's museum for dinosaurs. There is a display showcasing characteristics of a T-Rex. Ollie is able to sound out this new word and learn new information because of his decoding skills.
