Charles Olbon School

Typical Developmental Milestones

1 Year Old:

2 Years Old:

• Expressive vocabulary of 200 words
• Combining two-three words together in phrases (i.e. more juice)
• Beginning to use simple grammar (verb + ing as in eating, running), (plurals)
• Others can understand 70% of child’s speech

2 1/2 Year Old:

• Expressive vocabulary of 500 words
• Can ask simple questions (i.e. What’s that?)
• Uses pronouns “I, me, my, you”
• Understands concepts “in/on/under”, “big/little”

3 Years Old:

• Expressive vocabulary of 800 words
• Combining 4-6 words in phrases or sentences
• Follows directions involving 2-3 objects (i.e. Get your coat and shoes)
• Can answer simple questions (i.e. What do you do when you are tired?)
• Others can understand most of child’s speech
• Uses compound sentences with “and”
• Beginning to ask questions (mostly “what” and “who”)
• Uses “is, are, am” in sentences

3 1/2 Years Old:

• Expressive vocabulary of 1,000-1,500 words
• Others can understand most of child’s speech
• Can hold long, detailed conversations
• Can answer situational questions (i.e. What do you do when you are tired/sleepy/hungry?)
• Asks “how, why, when” questions looking for detailed explanations

4 Years Old:

• Should be few omissions and substitutions of consonants in speech
• Very intelligible in connected speech
• Knows above, below, between, top, bottom
• Irregular plurals are consistent (child/children, man/men)
• Combines 4-7 words in sentences
• Produces most speech sounds correctly
• Asks the meaning of words

4 1/2 Years Old:

• Most consonant sounds are used consistently and accurately
• Can tell first/middle/last name
• Tells a long story accurately
• Asks the meaning of words
• Combines 5-8 words in sentences

5 Years Old:

• Understands more difficult concepts (yesterday/tomorrow, more/less, many/few, before/after, now/later
• Can state similarities and differences of objects
• Can tell opposites
• All pronouns are used consistently (she, her, him, his, they, them)