Developmental Milestones

The American Speech-Language Hearing Association has a website including articles and resources that discuss milestones for speech-language development. Click here to access the site: https://www.asha.org/slp/schools/prof-consult/norms/

Developmental Milestones - Articulation

According to the Weiss Comprehensive Articulation Test norms, the following ages are given for specific phoneme acquisition.

Age 3: p, b, m
Age 4: n, ing, w, h
Age 4 ½: t, d, k, g
Age 5: f, v, y
Age 5 ½: th, l
Age 6 ½: r, s, z, sh, ch, j, zh
Age 7: all consonant blends

Year 5-6 Developmental Milestones

Follows directions given to a group
Follows multi-step commands
Asks appropriate questions
Uses past tense and future tense appropriately
Uses conjunctions
Has a receptive vocabulary of approximately 13,000 words
Has an expressive vocabulary of approximately 2,000 words
Names opposites
Continues to greatly increase vocabulary
Produces sentences averaging 4-6 words
Reverses sounds occasionally
Exchanges information and asks questions
Uses sentences with details
Accurately relays a story
Can sing songs and recite nursery rhymes
Communicates easily with adults and other children
Uses appropriate grammar in most cases
Defines by function

Year 6-7 Developmental Milestones

Names some letters, numbers, and currencies
Sequences numbers
Understands left and right
Uses increasingly more complex descriptions
Engages in conversations
Has a receptive vocabulary of approximately 20,000 words
Has an expressive vocabulary of approximately 2,600 words
Uses a sentence length of approximately 6 words
Understands most concepts of time and space
Recites the alphabet
Uses most grammatical endings appropriately