Child development and expected skills from 3 to 4 years old:
- The child’s speech is closer to that of an adult. While she speaks in sentences of 5-6 words.
- Describes the use of an object.
- Gives logical answers to questions.
- Uses several pronouns spontaneously.
- Talks about current events and past ones.
- Groups objects.
- Understands denials.
- Detects colors.
- Compares objects.
- Makes conclusions.
- Shows more parts of her body.
- Last produces the sounds: thanks, chain, that, s, z, j.
What to do:
- First, read stories together and tell them to each other. Thus, you encourage a positive attitude towards reading and speech (oral and written).
- Second, set a good example, read books instead of watching TV, mobile or computer screen.
- Then use opportunities for play and learning. For instance, theater, museums and walks. Also, events, board games, team plays and dramatic plays.
When to worry:
- If she still uses pacifiers or other baby habits.
- When she has difficulty to start a sentence or repeat syllables or words.
- If she can’t recognize smudged letters.
- When she doesn’t know how to hold a book.
Child development and expected skills from 4 to 5 years old:
- Understands: spatial concepts, complex instructions, descriptive complex concepts, additional temporal/quantitative/concepts and passive voice sentences.
- Tells stories/fairy tales.
- Expresses intentions, answers questions that are introduced with “why” correctly, uses the opposite, describes people/objects, names categories, repeats compound words, describes a process and gives word definitions.
- The production of “r” letter begins.
- Can recognize some letters.
- Understands that words can be read.
- The first writing efforts begin.
What to do:
- Read books.
- Write and read lists/notes together e.g. list for the supermarket.
- Don’t give her writing exercises.
- Learn songs that rhyme.
When to worry:
- If by the age of 5 she doesn’t have a rich vocabulary and doesn’t seem to understand and answer correctly, all the questions addressed to her.
- When she can’t recognize some letters.
- If her speech is incomprehensible.
- When she stutters.
Child development and expected skills from 5 to 6.5 years old:
- Essentially, understands, at least two nouns and adjectives. While indicating nouns that someone is performing an act (e.g. writing, studying). Temporal and sequential concepts.
- Adds and subtracts numbers, up to 5.
- Names additional categories.
- Uses adjectives to describe people and objects.
- Gives correct and more complex definitions.
- Uses comparatives and superlatives.
- Repeats a story with or without visual support.
- Uses rhyme.
- Forms nouns from verbs.
- Uses irregular plurals.
- Can make the phoneme sound word.
- Can form syllables for instance, k+a=ka.
- Begins to read simple words and count their syllables.
When to worry:
- If she doesn’t pronounce all the sounds/letters of her native language, correctly.
- When she has difficulty finding object names.
- If she doesn’t distinguish the phonemes of a word for instance, c-a-t= cat.
- Refuses or has difficulty to read.
Other disorders that may coexist with speech/communication disorders:
- While a weak voice or during the speech, air comes out of the nose.
- Bedwetting, outbursts of anger, social isolation.
- If after some illness, at the age at which the speech has developed, the progress suddenly stopped.
- When after a fall or accident, the development of her speech gets interrupted or worsens.
- If voice problems appear, such as: prolonged/unexplained hoarseness/fatigue or sudden loss of voice (holding).
- When she stutters.
- In addition, if she doesn’t socialize easily, doesn’t make eye contact or communication is difficult.
Read more about child development by age, 0-3 years old here
Rinio Liberiadou
Speech therapist-Speech Pathologist
www.e-logotherapeia.gr
Member of the Greek Association of Speech Therapists
