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Before Birth
Infants are sensitive to sound in utero, and can be receptive to the language of their mothers while developing in the womb. Prenatal experience with native language can influence how the newborn brain responds to language across brain areas sensitive to speech and language processing -
2 months of Age
At 2 months old, infants begin to coo, creating vowel-like sounds that are relatively easy to make because of their pleasant "oo" quality. -
4 months of Age
Infants begin to observe with interest as the caregiver plays turn-taking games, such as peekaboo and pat-a-cake -
6 months of Age
Infants begin to babble, adding consonant sounds to their cooing and repeating syllables. By 7 months, babbling starts to include many sounds of spoken languages. Infants begin to comprehend a few commonly heard words. -
8-12 months of age
Infants become more accurate at establishing joint attention with the caregiver, who often verbally labels the objects that a baby is looking at. Infants will actively participate in turn-taking games, trading roles with the caregiver. Infants will use preverbal gestures such as showing and points to influence other' goals and behaviors, and to convey information. -
12 months old
Infant babbling includes sound and intonation patterns of a child's language community. Speed and accuracy of word comprehension increases rapidly, and toddlers will begin to say their first recognizable word -
18-24 months of age
Spoken vocabulary expands from about 50 to 200 to 250 words, Toddlers will begin to combine words into 2 word utterances -
2-3 years old
Children will begin to use short sentences, follow simple directions, have a small conversation will familiar adults or family members, add endings to words, and listen to stories being told and answer simple questions -
3-4 years old
Children will begin to use sentences with 4 to 6 words, ask questions, give directions, tell others about things that they have done, talk to themselves and their toys, tell a story or sing a song, tell their caregiver when they need something, etc. -
5 years old
Children will be able to use sentences that sound almost like an adult, be able to say most speech sounds correctly, explain what familiar words mean, use sentences to describe objects and events, explain how to solve a simple problem, and follow related directions -
6-7 years old
Children can tell time, understand commands with three separate instructions, explain objects and their use, repeat three numbers backwards, and can read age-appropriate books and/or materials -
8-9 years old
Children can read more and enjoy reading,understand fractions, understands concept of space, draw and paint, can name months and days of week, in order, and can enjoy collecting objects -
10-12 years old
Children of this age can write stories, write letters, read efficiently and enjoys making friendships that are maintained through a variety of communication systems. Adult communication styles begin to develop.
