It’s common to question if your child is meeting their language development milestones.
Early Childhood Educator, Jan Jones, shares her expert tips of what to expect and look for in language development milestones by age.
We’ve also included a stack of medical references to check out if you’re concerned about your child’s verbal and communication development. As a mum, always go with your gut – there is never a wrong time to see your family doctor for questions or support.
Jan Jones: Many parents wonder if children’s language and listening skills are developing normally. While individual children develop their talking and listening skills at different rates, there is a general pattern to children’s language development.
By the age of one, your baby should be able to:
respond to familiar sounds, such as the telephone ringing, the vacuum cleaner or the car in the driveway
understand simple commands, such as ‘no’
recognise their own spoken name
understand the names of familiar objects or people
say ‘dad’, ‘Mumma’ and a few other words
enjoy songs, music and books
try to make familiar sounds, such as car and animal noises
By the age of two, your toddler should be able to:
say the names of simple body parts, such as nose or tummy
listen to stories and say the names of pictures
understand simple sentences, such as ‘where’s your shoe?’
use more than fifty words such as ‘no’, ‘gone’, ‘mine’, ‘teddy’
talk to themselves or their toys during play
sing simple songs, such as ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star,’ or ‘BAA baa black sheep’
use some pronouns instead of names, such as ‘he’, ‘it’
try simple sentences, such as ‘milk all gone’
By the age of three, your child should be able to:
understand how objects are used – a crayon is something to draw with
recognise their own needs, such a s hunger
follow directions
use three to four-word sentences
begin to use basic grammar
enjoy telling stories and asking questions
have favourite books and stories
be understood by familiar adults
By the age of four, your child should be able to:
understand shape and colour names
understand some ‘time’ words, such as lunchtime, today, winter
ask who, what and why questions
use lots of words, about 900, usually in four to five-word sentences
use correct grammar with occasional mistakes, such as ‘I falled down’
use language when playing with other children
speak clearly enough to be understood by most people.
By the age of five, your child should be able to:
understand opposites, such as high and low, wet and dry, big and little
use sentences of about six words with correct grammar
talk about events which are happening, have happened or might happen
explain why something happens, such as “Mum’s car stopped because the petrol ran out”
explain the function of objects, eg. ‘This clip keeps my hair away’
follow three directions, eg.’stand up, get your shoes on and wait at the door’
say how they feel and tell you their ideas
become interested in writing, numbers and reading things
speak clearly enough to be understood by anyone.
Worried about your child’s speech or communication? When to seek help…
A speech pathologist is professionally trained to advise, diagnose and work with children and adults who have a communication disability.
Contact a speech pathologist if you are worried about your child’s speech or language, if your child sounds quite different from the ages and stages outlined above, or if your child’s teacher is concerned.
Resources for Language Development Milestones you might like to explore: