Use the following criteria to access the approximate skill level of the child.
| Approximate age | Expressive Language Activities | Receptive Language Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 4 months | Verbal play through cooing, gooing, and laughing. Vowel sounds heard such as ooohh, eee, and ahhh. | Turns head toward sounds and can begin to discriminate one sound from another. |
| 4 to 8 months | Babbling begins. Some consonant sounds can be hears. | Anticipates an event, such as peek-a-boo and will visually follow a toy across the floor. Is capable of visually attending to an object with caregiver (i.e., joint attention). |
| 8 to 12 months | Syllable variation (i.e., badugatadudah). First word approximations (i.e., dada for daddy). Non-verbal communication. Jargon (i.e., unintelligible speech) is present. | Relates words with physical objects (i.e., understands that the word "ball" actually means the object ball). Responds to simple phrases such as "no". |
| 1 to 2 years | Uses mostly nouns and pronouns me/mine. Jargon (unintelligible speech) still present. | Increase attention to toys. Changes behavior in response to comments made to him/her. Knows a few simple commands with gestures needed at times. Understands simple questions. Points to simple pictures. |
| 2 to 3 years | 3-4 word sentences. Uses two-three word phrases frequently. Asks simple questions. Fluency can be poor. Jargon (unintelligible speech) mostly gone. Vowel sounds intact. | Comprehension shows rapid increase. Responds to more 2 step commands with prepositions (i.e., pick up the ball and put it on the table). |
| 3 to 4 years | 3-4 word sentences. Pronouns and adjectives are used as well as some adverbs, prepositions, past tense and plurals. Answers what, where, and when questions. | Recognizes gender differences, plurals, pronouns,adjectives,and colors |
| 4 to 5 years | Vocabulary increases 4-6 word sentences. 3-4 syllable words are being used. Articles appear. Uses more adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions. Fluency improving. | Understands if, because, why and when. Follows complex directions. |
| 5 to 6 years | Uses complete 5-6 word sentences. Fluent speech. Many multi-syllabic words are used. | Understands more complicated sentences. |