Normal Child Development Benchmarks
- Children should say vowels sounds correctly
- The following consonant sounds should be said correctly: /p/, /m/, /h/, /k/, /g/, /t/, /d/, /w/, /f/, and /n/.
- Speech is clear 50-60% of the time to people outside the family, though sound errors still may be there.
- A child’s verbal vocabulary increases to around 300 words.
- Should be saying 3-4 word sentences
- Should follow one-step commands
- Should be beginning to understand numbers like (Give me one block)
- Understand around 400 words
- Should say his/her name when asked
- A child will understand words more than he/she will be able to say
- A child understands long and complex sentences (“When we go to the park, we will play on the swings.”)
- A child uses past tenses (-ed), plurals (-s), and pronouns (names of people)
- Speech is clear 75% of the time to people outside the family, though sound errors still may be there
- A child may use unnecessary sounds such as ____or ____in his/her speech. A child may have dysfluencies and repeat sounds, syllables, words or phrases without a lot of effort.  Children may or may not go through this stage  Know that this is a normal part of development as long as the child does not struggle to say the words.
- A child listens and can be reasoned with
- A child should be beginning to say /l/ and /s/ sounds between 3-4 years of age
- A child follows 3-step oral directions in sequence
- Understands WH-questions
- Remembers events from yesterday
- Able to repeat nursery rhymes
- Able to name objects as ____ or____
- Can recall and say two things from a short story after hearing it
- Able to repeat 5-7 syllable sentences
- Beginning to correctly say sh, ch, v. j, and z sounds.
- Speech is clear 90% of the time to people outside the family, though errors of speech sounds may still be there
- Understands spatial concepts (under, over, in, out, next to) (prepositions)
- A child tries new words, can give the meaning of age-appropriate vocabulary words, and can put together simple sentences given words
- Seeks out new information through what, why and how questions
- Able to explain the rules of activity or game
- Can tell apart left/right on himself/herself
- Understands time/sequence concepts
- Knows his/her address and telephone number
- Can identify money
- Can correctly say /th/ and /r/ sounds. Articulation is developed
- Understands simple math
- Child has formal language and is continuously expanding