Speech and Language Development: 3-4 Years

Exploring Speech and Language Development in Children: Milestones for 3-4 Year OldsAs a parent, it's natural to want to ensure that your child is developing properly, hitting all of the milestones at the right time. Speech and language development is an area of particular interest for many parents, as it plays a crucial role in a child's overall growth. By the time a child reaches 3-4 years old, their communication skills should be well on their way to becoming established. This blog post will explore the milestones of speech and language development for this age group. We'll take a look at what parents can expect and how they can support their child's progress. Whether you are an experienced parent or a first-timer, this post will provide valuable insights into this essential aspect of your child's growth.

While these are essential steps on anyones path, always remember, that each babies path is unique and may not look exactly the same to another!

ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) Milestones for 3-4 years

• Compares things, with words like bigger or shorter.

• Tells you a story from a book or a video.

• Understands and uses more location words, like inside, on, and under.

• Uses words like a or the when talking, like a book or the dog.

• Pretends to read alone or with others.

• Recognizes signs and logos like STOP.

• Pretends to write or spell and can write some letters.

• Correctly produces t, k, g, f, y, and –ing in words.

• Says all the syllables in a word.

• Says the sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of words.

• By age 4 years, your child talks smoothly. Does not repeat sounds, words, or phrases most of the time.

• By age 4 years, your child speaks so that people can understand most of what they say. Child may make mistakes on sounds that are later to develop—like l, j, r, sh, ch, s, v, z, and th.

• By age 4 years, your child says all sounds in a consonant cluster containing two or more consonants in a row—like the tw in tweet or the –nd in sand. May not produce all sounds correctly—for example, spway for “spray.”

What can you do to help?

• Cut out pictures from old magazines. Make silly pictures by gluing parts of different pictures together. For example, cut out a dog and a car. Glue the dog into the car as the driver. Help your child explain what is silly about the picture.

• Sort pictures and objects into categories, like food, animals, or shapes. Ask your child to find the picture or object that does not belong. For example, a baby does not belong with the animals.

• Read, sing, and talk about what you do and where you go. Use rhyming words. This will help your child learn new words and sentences. Do this in all the languages you use.

• Read books with a simple story. Talk about the story with your child. Help them retell the story or act it out with props and dress-up clothes. Tell them your favorite part of the story. Ask for their favorite part.

• Look at family pictures. Have your child tell a story about the picture.

• Help your child understand by asking them questions. Have them try to fool you with their own questions. Make this a game by pretending that some of their questions fool you.

• Act out daily activities, like cooking food or going to the doctor. Use dress-up and role-playing to help your child understand how others talk and act. This will help your child learn social skills and how to tell stories.

• Talk to your child in the languages you are most comfortable using. From time to time, your child might use words from their languages in the same sentence or conversation. Don’t worry; this is a normal part of becoming multilingual.