Between the ages of 0 and 6 months, a child should:
- Startle at loud sounds
- Make cooing sounds
- Smile at people
- Look for the origin of a sound
- Giggle and babble (saying words like "ba", "pa" and "mi")
Between the ages of 6 and 12 months, a child should:
- Turn to look when you call her name
- Understand commonly used words like "cup" and "juice"
- Respond to simple questions and commands like "Want more?" and "No!"
- Utter repetitive babble sounds, like "ba ba ba ba ba ba"
- Use sounds and gestures like pointing to draw attention
- Say her first word
Between the ages of 1 and 2 years, a child should:
- Point to images or body parts when told their names
- Follow one-step instructions
- Recite the names of objects or body parts when asked "What is that?"
- Be able to make the sounds of p, b, m, h, and w
- Speak phrases which contain more than one word, like "more juice"
Between the ages of 2 and 3 years, a child should:
- Understand opposites, for instance identifying up from down
- Understand two-step instructions, for instance "Get the ball and put it in the basket."
- Talk about things which are not in the room with the child
- Be able to make the sounds of k, g, f, t, d, and n
- Use prepositions to describe locations
- Ask "Why?"
Between the ages of 3 and 4 years, a child should:
- Understand words describing order of sequence, like first, second and last
- Understand words describing time, like yesterday and tomorrow
- Follow instructions with multiple steps
- Be able to identify when she has been heard by her caretaker
If your child has trouble with any of the items she should be able to do at her age, please contact me and I'll be happy to help.