Dear Treehouse Families,
This week’s column is written by our partner and Speech Pathologist – Mandy Sangha with Step by Step Pediatric Therapy. Mandy will also be offering FREE speech/language screenings here at Treehouse Learning on Monday November 4th and Thursday November 7th. Please sign up at the front desk if you are interested in getting your child screened. Thanks Mandy!
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Speech and Language Development from 1-3 years
The first three years of your child’s life are a critical period for speech and language development. Children learn to comprehend increasingly complex language vocabulary and concepts, express their wants and needs and produce a variety of sounds to make words and sentences. The range of “typical development”, especially in regards to speech sound development can differ greatly across children. Here are some general guidelines for speech and language development during the toddler years. If your child is showing delays in any of these three areas, a speech and language screening is recommended.
Receptive Language
Pointing to/retrieving named pictures and objects
Identifying body parts
Answering “what” questions by pointing or speaking
Following simple directions (“Go get your shoes.”)
Expressive Language
Using words to communicate their wants and needs (phrase length should equal their age-2-year-olds should produce at least 2-word phrases consistently)
Labeling increasingly more vocabulary within their immediate environment
Expanding their vocabulary to include verbs, adjectives, and prepositions
Speech
Speech intelligibility at 2 years-50%, 3 years-75% to familiar and unfamiliar listeners
Individual sound mastery may differ greatly across children, boys typically develop sounds later than girls
Feel free to contact stepbystepcolorado@gmail.com for any speech or language related questions.