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Home > Developmental Milestones
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Child development refers to how a child becomes able to do more complex things as they get older. Development is different than growth. Growth only refers to the child getting bigger in size while development is learning skills during specific time.
The six developmental areas that will be targeted in the developmental milestones are gross motor, fine motor, adaptive, social-emotional, speech and language and cognitive. Each area encompasses a particular set of skills, behaviors, or information that is traditionally seen as related developmental content.
Gross motor: using large groups of muscles to sit, stand, walk, run, etc., keeping balance, and changing positions.
Fine motor: using hands to be able to eat, draw, dress, play, write, and do many other things.
Adaptive: incorporating the area of self-help skills such as eating, drinking and dressing.
Social-emotional: interacting with others, having relationships with family, friends, and teachers, cooperating, and responding to the feelings of others.
Speech and Language: speaking, using body language and gestures, communicating, and understanding what others say.
Cognitive: Thinking skills, including learning, understanding, problem-solving, reasoning, and remembering.
What are developmental milestones?
Developmental milestones are a set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that most children can do at a certain age range. The pediatrician and other professionals (speech & language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, special educators…) use milestones to help check how the child is developing. Although each milestone has an age level, the actual age when a normally developing child reaches that milestone can vary quite a bit. Every child is unique!
What are warning signs?
Where developmental milestones focus on what a child can do by a certain age, “warning signs” usually warn parents, caregivers and health professionals of potential delays and disabilities when a child cannot do something by a certain age, or when a child has significant difficulty doing something that most children can do easily.
“Warning Signs” outline a range of functional indicators or domains commonly used to monitor healthy child development, as well as potential problem areas for child development. It is intended to assist in the determination of when and where to refer for additional advice, formal assessment and/or treatment.
“Warning signs” will assist professionals in identifying when a child could be at risk of not meeting his/her health and/or developmental milestones, triggering an alert for the need for further investigation by the appropriate discipline.
Children benefit when caregivers can identify potential delays and early signs of disability and refer these children into early intervention programs. Referrals should be made early, but only after patterns of concern exist. Missing one milestone should not cause an overreaction.
Child development from birth to five years of age will be presented according to ten age groups:
 Birth to 1½ month (first 6 weeks)
Gross motor
•Makes jerky, quivering arm thrusts
•Brings hands within range of eyes and mouth
•Moves head from side to side while lying on stomach.
•Head flops backward if unsupported
•Keeps hands in tight fists
•Strong reflex movements
Vision
•Focuses 8 to 12 inches away
•Eyes wander and occasionally cross
•Prefers black-and-white or high-contrast patterns
•Prefers the human face to all other patterns
Adaptive
•His mouth opens and closes in response to the exciting food-all reactions basic exist
•Automatically turn his head and opens his mouth when touches the exciting cheek or mouth
Social-emotional
•Shows sensitivity to the physical contact that restless or cry or move his body.
•Considers the direction of the sound or change the movements of the body in response to the voice of the person trying to stress his attention to speak
•Restless movement or change the body in response to the voice of big person.
Speech & Language:
•Hearing is fully mature (speech and language development is inextricably linked to hearing)
•Changes his body’s movements and facial expressions, startles, cries or wakens when there are new or loud sounds around him
•Cries to communicate his needs (hungry, tired, hot, cold, bored, sick, or wants to be held)
•Makes cooing* sounds particularly when mother talks to him
•Makes eye contact with his mother
•Smiles at his mother or familiar face
Warning signs:
•Sucks poorly and feeds slowly
•Doesn't blink when shown a bright light
•Doesn't focus and follow a nearby object moving side to side
•Rarely moves arms and legs; seems stiff
•Seems excessively loose in the limbs, or floppy.
•Lower jaw trembles constantly, even when not crying or excited
•Doesn't respond to loud sounds
•Doesn’t response or react to the exciting cheek or mouth
2 to 3 months
Gross Motor
•Raises head and chest when lying on stomach
•Supports upper body with arms when lying on stomach
•Stretches legs out and kicks when lying on stomach or back
•Opens and shuts hands
•Pushes down on legs when feet are placed on a firm surface
•Brings hand to mouth
•Takes swipes at dangling objects with hands
•Grasps and shakes hand toys
Vision
•Watches faces intently
•Follows moving objects
•Recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance
•Starts using hands and eyes in coordination
•Sees parents smile, and learns to smile back
•Starts to look in the direction where sounds are coming from
Adaptive
•End of the process of sucking and swallowing reflex - can do several consecutive Sucking before Swallowing
•Open mouth to receive breast - or bottle in contact Nipple tracked
•Sleeps at appropriate times
Social-emotional
•Begins to develop a social smile
•Enjoys playing with other people and may cry when playing stops
•Becomes more expressive and communicates more with face and body
•Imitates some movements and facial expressions
Speech & language
•Hearing and understanding
•Startles to a sudden sound
•Turns head toward direction of sound
•Increases or decreases sucking behavior in response to sound
•Quiets or smiles when spoken to
•Seems to recognize the mother’s voice and quiets if crying
•Communicating / talking
•Makes pleasure sounds (cooing*, gooing)
•Cries differently for different needs
•Smiles when sees the mother’s face
•Smiles back when smiled to
Cognitive (birth to 3 months)
•Reacts to visual and auditory stimuli
•Visually explores surroundings
•Focuses on and follows moving objects
•Recognizes familiar objects and caregivers
•Responds to familiar sounds and voices
•Imitates the facial expressions such as smiling and frowning
•Starts anticipating events, such as sucking at the sight of a nipple
Warning signs
•Does not notice hands by 2 months
•Does not follow moving objects with eyes by 2 to 3 months
•Does not grasp and hold objects by 3 months
•Does not smile at people by 3 months
•Does not reach for and grasp toys by 3 to 4 months
•Does not bring objects to mouth by 4 months
•Does not push down with legs when feet are placed on a firm surface by 4 months
•Has trouble moving one or both eyes in all directions
•Crosses eyes most of the time (occasional crossing of the eyes is normal in these first months)
•Does not seem to respond to loud noises
•Does not pay attention to new faces, or seems very frightened by new faces or surroundings
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he/she once had
4 to 6 months
Gross motor
•The baby learns to hold the head up on her own.
•When the baby is on her belly, she will learn to push up on her hands to look around.
•Starts to roll over. Rolls both ways (front to back, back to front)
•Sits with, and then without, support on hands
•Supports whole weight on legs
Fine motor
•Reaches with one hand
•Transfers object from hand to hand and plays with hands together
•Uses hand to rake objects
•Starts putting objectives in the mouth
Vision
•Develops full color vision and depth perception as the baby can differentiate between far and near objects
•Distance vision matures as far away as three feet
•Ability to track moving objects improves and can follow objects going across him and over-and-under him
•Your baby likes looking at his hands and feet
•He can look back and forth at two different things
Adaptive
Expects feeding, dressing and bathing.
Social-emotional
•Enjoys being cuddled
•Recognizes his mother
•Show interest in watching people’s faces
•Smile back when you smile
•Distinguishes between familiar persons and strangers, no longer smiles indiscriminately
Speech & language
•Hearing and understanding
•Moves eyes in direction of sounds
•Responds appropriately to changes in tone of the voice (stops crying when hears friendly and soothing tone, cries, frowns or looks worried when he hears shouting and angry tone)
•Notices toys that makes sounds
•Pays attention to music
•Responds to own name
•Responds to human voices without visual cues by turning his head and eyes
•Begins to respond to “no”
•Communicating / talking
•Vocalizes (early vocalizations*) with intonation to express pleasure and displeasure
•Responds to facial expressions and sounds by making sounds and smile
•Starts to babble chains of different sounds including p, b, m ( such as ba-ba-, ma-ma, da-da-da); the child may favor certain sounds (da, ya, ka) repeating them over and over because he likes the way they sound and how his mouth feels when he says them
•Makes gurgle sounds when left alone and when playing with
•Starts “squealing” as he explores making high pitched and low pitched sounds
•Starts to use many different vowels
Cognitive
•Shows interest in bottle, breast, familiar toy, or new surroundings
•Inspects own hands and fingers in play
•Smiles and responds playfully at own image in mirror
•Looks for fallen objects
Warning Signs:
•Seems very stiff, with tight muscles
•Seems very floppy, like a rag doll
•Head still flops back when body is pulled to a sitting position
•Cannot sit with help by 6 months
•Does not roll over in either direction (front to back or back to front) by 5 months
•Reaches with one hand only
•Does not actively reach for objects by 6 to 7 months
•Has difficulty getting objects to mouth
•Refuses to cuddle
•Shows no affection for the person who cares for him or her
•Doesn't seem to enjoy being around people
•Does not smile on his or her own by 5 months
•One or both eyes consistently turn in or out
•Persistent tearing, eye drainage, or sensitivity to light
•Does not respond to sounds around him or her
•Does not turn head to locate sounds by 4 months
•Seems impossible to comfort at night after 5 months
•Does not laugh or make squealing sounds by 6 months
•Does not recognize his or her mother
•No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by 6 months or thereafter
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he/she once had
7 to 9 months
Fine motor
•Enjoys learning about his surroundings. He is paying more attention to the size and shape of objects
•As he reaches for things, he can grasp the object he wants on the first or the second try
•He will be able to see tiny things more clearly and pick them up.
•He may try to hold his bottle
•He can move a toy easily from one hand to the other
Gross Motor
•He is learning to sit by himself without pillows or the adult’s body as support.
•He may scoot on his belly by pushing his feet against the floor or by using his elbows and forearms to move. He is getting ready to crawl.
•He may push himself off the floor so that he rocks back and forth on his hands and knees.
•Many babies love to stand when they’re held up!
•He probably practiced rolling from his stomach to his back, and now can roll from his back to his stomach
Vision
•Develops full color vision
•Distance vision matures
•Ability to track moving objects improves
Adaptive
•Mouth and chew on objects
•Reach for spoon when being fed
•Turn away when finished eating
•Drink from a cup independently
Social-emotional
•Enjoys social play
•Interested in mirror images
•Responds to other people's expressions of emotion and appears joyful often
•Specific emotional attachment to mother
•Enjoys "peek-a-boo"
•Starts play patty-cake
Speech & language
Hearing and understanding
•Understands/responds to “no”
•Responds to own name; turns or looks up when her/his name is called
•Turns to where a voice (spoken word) is coming from
•Listen when spoken to
Communicating / talking
•Imitates actively the sounds of speech
•Tries to repeat the sounds addressed to him
•Babbling sounds more speech-like (baby sounds like making sense now because he is using tones and patterns of his native language)
•Babbling has both long and short groups of sounds(tata, upup, bibibibi)
•Communicates by actions or gestures (reach out when he wants to be picked up…)
•Uses speech/non-crying sounds to get or keep attention
•Exchanges sounds, gestures, smiles, loving faces and other expressions forth and back
Cognitive
•Distinguishes between animate and inanimate objects and bases distance on the size of an object
•Finds partially hidden objects
•Explores with hands and mouth
•Struggles to get objects that are out of reach
•Realizes that if he/she drops an object, he/she can pick it up
•Enjoys repeating an action over and over; he or she is learning that actions have effects (discovering cause-effect)
•Begins to test parental responses to his or her behavior, such as throwing food on the floor; remembers the reaction and tests the parents again to see if he or she gets the same reaction ( discovering cause-effect and building memory skills)
•Participates in cooperative games (e.g. “peek-a-boo”)
•Fears strangers (emergence of stranger anxiety)
Warning signs:
•Does not actively reach for objects by 6 to 7 months
•Does not follow objects with both eyes at near (1 foot) and far (6 feet) ranges by 7 months
•Does not bear weight on legs by 7 months
•Does not try to attract attention through actions by 7 months
•Does not actively reach and grasp toys by 7 months
•Does not try to attract attention through actions by 7 months
•Does not respond when called
•Does not start babbling by 8 months
•Early babbling stops
•Shows no interest in games of peek-a-boo by 8 months
•No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by 9 months or thereafter
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he/she once had
10 to 12 months
Fine motor
•Uses pincer grasp
•Bangs two objects together
•Puts objects into container
•Takes objects out of container
•Lets objects go voluntarily
•Pokes with index finger
•Tries to imitate scribbling
Gross motor
•Crawling is the most popular way for babies this age to get around; most babies walk after they become good at crawling
•The baby will pull himself up from the floor to stand against a sofa, a table
•The baby will then move along the furniture, supporting himself against it
•The baby may express his desire to walk by taking the parents hand to go walking with him.
•The baby is preparing himself to take his first step by himself
Adaptive
•Finger-feeds himself
•Extends arm or leg to help when being dressed
•Feeds self cracker
•Holds cup with two hands; drinks with assistance
Social-emotional
•Shy or anxious with strangers
•Cries when mother or father leaves
•Enjoys imitating people in his play
•Shows specific preferences for certain people and toys
•Tests parental responses to his actions during feedings
•Tests parental responses to his behavior
•May be fearful in some situations
•Prefers mother and/or regular caregiver over all others
•Repeats sounds or gestures for attention
•Responsive to own name
•Wave bye-bye
•Plays pat-a-cake, peek a boo
•Understands "no-no!"
•Gives and takes objects
Speech & language
Hearing and understanding
•Recognizes few familiar words (“juice”, “shoe”…)
•Understands simple instructions or requests especially if vocal or physical cues are given (“come here”, “want more”, “don’t touch”…)
•Pays increasing attention to speech
•Turns to the person speaking when his name is called
Communicating / talking
•Uses one or more words with meaning (mama, dada, bye-bye) although they may not be clear; this may be a fragment of a word. At this stage, for the child, a “word” is any sound that consistently refers to the same person, object or event.
•Babbles with inflection (changes in tone)
•Copies intentionally sounds made by another
•Uses his pointer finger to show interest in something in the environment
•Imitates or uses gestures like waving bye-bye, shaking head for “no”
•Bring you toys he wants to show you and/or play with
•Enjoys playing games like Peek-a-boo or Pat-a-cake and he sometimes starts the game
•Lets you know what he wants by using a combination of sounds and actions
Cognitive
•Learns and understands that objects continue to exist when out of sight (object permanence)
•Looks for and retrieves hidden objects
•Pushes one toy away to get to another one hidden underneath it (goal-directed behavior)
•Applies known procedures to new situations
•Imitates gestures and actions with objects (e.g. push a car)
•Experiments with the physical properties of objects; explores objects in many different ways(shaking, banging, throwing, dropping)
•Begins to use objects correctly (drinking from a cup, brushing hair…)
•Shows interest in container play (e.g. places beads in a box)
•Enjoys social games like “pat-a-cake” that have rhymes and hand motions
Warning signs
•Does not crawl
•Drags one side of body while crawling (for over one month)
•Cannot stand when supported
•No babbling by 12 months
•No back-and-forth gestures , such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 month
•Does not search for objects that are hidden while he/she watches by the age of 12 months
•Does not point to objects or pictures by the age of 12 months
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he or she once had
12 to 18 months
Fine motor
•Scribbles with crayons on his/her own
•Helps with dressing by pulling out arms and legs
•Turns over container to pour out contents and can drop toys into buckets or bowels.
•Stacks two or more blocks
Gross motor
•Walks alone by 18 months
•Crawls up stairs
•Plays in a squat position
Adaptive
•Fear of Bath
•Becomes picky about certain foods
•Feeds himself.
•Use lots of gestures with words to get needs met, like pointing or taking you by the hand and saying, “want juice”
•Drink from a cup independently
•Pull off socks
•Brush teeth with help
Social-emotional
•Dependent Behavior
•Gets Very upset when separated from his mother
•Obeys limited commands.
•Interested in his mirror image.
•Do simple pretend play, like feeding a doll or stuffed animal, and attracting your attention by looking up at you
Speech & language
Hearing and understanding
•Turns toward you when you call his/her name from behind
•Understands up to 50 words / at least 10 words
•Understands and follows simple commands
•Identifies familiar objects when named
•Look or point to family members when named
Communicating / talking
•Uses one-word utterances with gestures (pointing, taking you by hand) to communicate
•Has vocabulary of 5-20 words; vocabulary made up mainly of nouns
•Much jargon* with emotional content; seems to be talking in sentences but not using real words
•May leave sounds at the beginning or end of words
•Repeats words he hears
•Uses the word “no”
•Sometimes answers the question “what’s this?”
•Practices inflection, raising tone when asking a question (“up?”)
•Speech is 25% intelligible by 18 months
Cognitive
•Drops a ball repeatedly (period of experimentation)
•Discovers new procedures through active experimentation
•Negativism begins
•Attempts to imitate scribble
•Spontaneously scribbles, then imitates crayon strokes
•Shows more interest in looking at storybooks with an adult, naming or pointing to familiar objects on request and turning pages by him or herself
Warning signs
•Cannot walk by 18 months
•No words by 15-16 months
•Does not seem to know the function of household objects by 15 months (brush, telephone, spoon…)
•Does not imitate actions or attempt to imitate speech by the age of 18 months
•Does not engage in social and cooperative games by the age of 18 months (such as “peek-a-boo” and “pat-a-cake”)
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he or she once had
18 to 24 months
Fine motor
•Enjoys simple shape sorters or puzzles after 18 months
•Stacks five or more blocks
•Takes off own shoes, socks or hat
•Might use one hand more often than the other
•Uses the spoon for feeding; eats with a spoon with little spilling by the age of 2 years
Gross motor
•Walks backwards or sideways pulling a toy
•Carries large toy or several toys while walking
•Begins to run
•Stands on tiptoe
•Jumps on the spot
•Kicks a ball
•Climbs onto and down from furniture unassisted
•Walks up and down stairs holding on to support
Adaptive
•Uses spoon, spilling little
•Drinks form cup with one hand, unassisted
•Chews food
•Unzips large zipper
•Indicates toilet needs
•Removes shoes, socks, pants, sweater
•Brushes teeth and washes hand with assistance
•Opens and closes doors
Social-emotional
•Imitates behavior of others, especially adults and older children
•More aware of herself as separate from others
•More excited about company of other children
•Demonstrates increasing independence
•Begins to show defiant behavior
•Separation anxiety increases toward midyear then fades
•Do pretend play with you with more than one action, like feeding the doll and then putting the doll to sleep
Speech & language
Hearing and understanding
•Enjoys listening to simple stories, rhymes and songs
•Points to pictures in a book when named
•Follows simple commands and understands simple questions (“roll the ball”, “kiss the baby”, “where’s your shoes”…) without visual cues/gestures
•Points to a few (3-5) body parts on self when asked
Communicating / talking
•Produces sequence of single word utterances (“daddy”, “up”)
•Starts to put two words together making basic short “sentence” / begins to use two-word utterances (“more juice”, “no sleep”, “me go”, “mommy book”, “want cookie”)
•Uses two-word questions (“where Kitty?”, “go bye-bye?”, “what’s that?”)
•Has a vocabulary of approximately 50 to 200 words, many of which are nouns ( period of lexical explosion)
•Uses pronouns (I, me, my, mine, you); “me” and “I” are often confused; “my” and “mine” are beginning to emerge;
•Refers to self by name
•Speech* is at least 50% intelligible by age two
Cognitive
•Finds toys following displacement
•Finds objects even when hidden with two or three covers
•Stacks 6 to 8 blocks in tower in imitation
•Begins to sort by shapes and colors; is able to match two similar objects
•Begins engaging in make-believe play (pretend play)
•Has very limited attention span
•Visualizes objects and projects trajectories (mental representations for things, actions and concepts)
•Invents new procedures through mental representation (insight and planning)
•Draws with crayons
Warning signs
•Fails to develop a mature heel-toe walking pattern or walks only on his toes (unable to walk heels down) after four months of walking
•Cannot push a wheeled toy by age 2
•Less than 15 words by age 2
•Does not imitate actions and words by the age of 2
•Does not follow simple instructions by age 2
•Cannot build a tower of more than four blocks by the age of 2 years
•Does not engage in pretend play by the age of 2 years (for example feeding dolls…)
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he/she once had
2 to 3 years
Fine motor
•Makes up-and-down, side-to-side, and circular lines with pencil or crayon
•Turns book pages one at a time
•Builds a tower of more than six blocks
•Holds a pencil in writing position
•Screws and unscrews jar lids, nuts, and bolts
•Turns rotating handles
•Enjoys learning to cut safety scissors.
•Enjoys simple stringing activities with large beads
Gross motor
•Climbs stairs with minimal or no support
•Walks up and down stairs, alternating feet (one foot per stair step)
•Kicks ball
•Runs easily
•Pedals tricycle
•Bends over easily without falling
Adaptive
•Uses spoon, little spilling
•Uses fork
•Gets drink form fountain or faucet independently
•Puts on and takes off clothing alone
•Opens door by turning handle
•Washes and dries hands independently
•Shows an increasing interest in using the potty
Social-emotional
•Imitates adults and playmates
•Spontaneously shows affection for familiar playmates
•Can take turns in games
•Understands concept of "mine" and "his/hers"
•Expresses affection openly
•Expresses a wide range of emotions
•Separates easily from parents
•Objects to major changes in routine
•follows simple directions; enjoys helping with household tasks
•begins to recognize own limits — asks for help
•Likes to play alone, but near other children
•Does not cooperate or share well
•Able to make choices between two things
•Begins to notice other people’s moods and feelings
•start to create an imaginary play friend
•Enjoy pretending to play different characters with you or talking for dolls or action figures
Speech & language
Hearing and understanding
•Follows two-step commands (get the book and put it on the table)
•Recognizes and identifies almost all common objects
•Points to pictures in a book when named (objects and actions)
•Understands most sentences and questions dealing with his environment and activities
•Understands prepositions (“on”, “under”, “in”, “out”, “off”)/ at least 3 prepositions usually “in”, “on”, “under”
•Understands some descriptive words (big, little, wet, dirty, fast, slow)
•Understands some quantity concepts (one versus all)
•Understands several pronouns (him, his, your, mine)
•Understands differences in meaning (“go-stop”, “big-little”, “up-down”)
•Listen to simple stories
Communicating / talking
•Vocabulary increases to be between 200 to 300 words; verbs begin to predominate
•Has a word for almost everything
•Uses 2-3-4-word “sentences” / combinations to talk about and ask for things (“drink juice”, “where the ball, daddy”)
•Uses pronouns I, you, me correctly
•Uses language to engage in a simple question-and-answer format (short conversation) as well as to solve problems and learn concepts.
•Should not be expected to answer all questions even though he understands what is expected
•Speech is at least 75% intelligible by age three
Cognitive
•Performs mental trial-and-error to solve problems instead of having to manipulate objects physically (mental problem solving)
•Begins to understand simple time concepts as his memory and intellectual abilities develop (“you can play after you finish)
•Understands relationship between objects
•Begins to recognize the purpose of numbers in counting objects especially the number 2
•Recognizes basic shapes
•Begins to identify colors
•Completes puzzle with three or four pieces
•Sorts objects by shape and color
•Matches pictured objects
•Matches object in his or her hand or in the room to a picture in a book
•Selects and looks at picture books, names pictured objects, and identifies several objects within one picture
•Becomes much more interested in winding up toys and turning lights and appliances on and off as his/her understanding of cause-effect develops
•Plays make-believe with dolls, animals and people
•Begins to draw specific objects
•Has limited attention span
Warning signs
•Frequent falling and difficulty with stairs
•Cannot build a tower of more than four blocks
•Difficulty manipulating small objects
•Little interest in other children
•Extreme difficulty separating from mother or primary caregiver
•Poor eye contact
•Limited interest in toys
•Persistent and excessive drooling
•By the age of 2½-3, a child’s word s are not understood except by family members; very unclear speech
•No two-word meaningful combinations (without imitating or repeating) by 2-2½ years (Uses only one-word utterances)
•Does not listen to simple stories with pictures by the age of 2½ years
•No involvement in "pretend" play
•Does not engage in symbolic play by the age of 3 (for example using a banana for a phone)
•Does not maintain attention to a specific activity for at least 5 minutes by the age of 3 years
•Does not follow two-or three-part directives by the age of 3 years
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he or she once had
3 to 4 years
Fine motor
•Copies square shapes
•Draws a person with two to four body parts
•Uses scissors
•Draws circles and squares
•Begins to copy some capital letters
Gross motor
•Hops and stands on one foot up to five seconds
•Goes upstairs and downstairs without support
•Kicks ball forward
•Throws ball overhand
•Catches bounced ball most of the time
•Moves forward and backward with agility
Adaptive
•More independent
•Dresses and undresses
•Pours well form small pitcher
•Spreads soft butter with knife
•Buttons and unbuttons large buttons
•Washes hands independently
•Blows nose when reminded
•ses toilet independently
•Can brush teeth, comb hair, wash without help
•Uses a spoon and fork
•May stay dry most nights
Social-emotional
•Interested in new experiences
•Cooperates with other children
•Plays "Mom" or "Dad"
•Increasingly inventive in fantasy play
•Negotiates solutions to conflicts
•Imagines that many unfamiliar images may be "monsters"
•Views self as a whole person involving body, mind, and feelings
•Often cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality
•Develops friendships independent of you, such as new friends at preschool
Speech & language
Hearing and understanding
•Hears you when you call from another room
•Hears television or radio at the same loudness level as other family members
•Understands simple, “who?”, “what?”, “where?”, “why?” questions.
•Readily follows simple commands even though stimulus objects are not in sight
Communicating / talking
•Masters basic rules of grammar* by the age of four
•Uses lots of sentences that have 4 or more words using adult-like grammar
•Starts a conversation and continue it staying on the same topic
•Tells short stories
•Uses language to create pretend situations when playing with others
•Talks about activities at school
•Extensive verbalization as he carries out activities
•Asking “why” is his favorite activity; he wants to know what causes events around him
•Can say name, age, sex
•Speech is 100% intelligible by age four; speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand
Cognitive
•Understands the concept of counting and counts to at least three; may count to 10
•Pretends to read and write; may recognizes a few common words such as own name; understands that prints carries a message
•Identifies familiar signs and labels
•Participate in rhyming games
•Develops prewriting skills
•Knows own name, age and gender
•Constantly asks questions
•Reasoning still rather one-sided; tries to resolve problems from a single point of view
•Sorts and classifies objects
•Intentionally stacks blocks or rings in order of size
•Has increased understanding of concepts of the functions and grouping of objects and part/whole
•Understands size concepts
•Understands the concept of “same” and “different”
•Begins to be aware of past and present
•Draw somewhat recognizable picture that is meaningful to a child if not to adult; names and briefly explains the picture
•Recalls 2 to 3 digits
•Enjoys listening to and talking about a storybook; Recalls part of a short story
•Has short attention span
Warning signs
•Cannot throw a ball overhand
•Cannot jump in place
•Cannot ride a tricycle
•Cannot grasp a crayon between thumb and fingers
•Has difficulty scribbling by the age of 4 years
•Cannot stack four blocks by the age of 4
•Still clings or cries whenever parents leave
•Ignores other children
•Doesn't respond to people outside the family
•Doesn't engage in fantasy play
•No interest in interactive games by the age of 4.
•Resists dressing, sleeping, using the toilet
•Lashes out without any self-control when angry or upset
•Cannot copy a circle by the age of 4
•Cannot stay on the conversational topic by 3½ years.
•Doesn’t use more than three-word sentences by the age of 4 (uses only very short sentences)
•Doesn’t use “me” and “you” correctly by the age of 4
•Exhibits trouble in learning common nursery rhymes during preschool years
•Fails to know the letters of his/her name during preschool years
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he or she once had
4 to 5 years
Fine motor
•Copies triangle and other shapes
•Draws person with body
•Prints some letters
•Dresses and undresses without help
•Uses fork, spoon, and (sometimes) a table knife
•Usually cares for own toilet needs
Gross motor
•Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
•Hops, somersaults
•Swings, climbs
•May be able to skip
Adaptive
•Shows more independence and may even visit a next-door neighbor by herself
•Knows about things used every day in the home (money, food, appliances)
•Dresses and undresses without help
•Uses fork, spoon, and (sometimes) a table knife
•Usually cares for own toilet needs
•laces shoes
•crosses streets safely
•ties bow
•starts to show more interest in taking care of his or her self alone without help
•Cleans his or her room, including making the bed
•May pack school bag, including making their own lunch
•Handles most bathroom needs on their own, such as going to the toilet, cleaning his or her self, etc.
•Wants probably to take a bath on his or her own
•Stays dry at night almost all of the time now
Social-emotional
•Wants to please friends
•Wants to be like her friends
•More likely to agree to rules
•Likes to sing, dance, and act
•Aware of gender
•Able to distinguish fantasy from reality
•Sometimes demanding, sometimes eagerly cooperative
•Tells you what he or she is going to do
•Shows signs of separating from parents easier
Speech & language
Hearing and understanding
•Follows three commands given without interruptions
•Understands simple time concepts (today, tomorrow, yesterday, morning, afternoon, night, later, after, while)
•Pays attention to a short story and answers simple questions about it
•Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school
Communicating / talking
•Uses sentences that give lots of details (“I like to read my book”)
•Uses sentences that are grammatically* correct
•Uses long sentences (more than five words)
•Uses complex sentences
•Talks about past, future and imaginary events
•Participates in long, detailed conversations
•Tells longer stories
•Answers “why” and “when” questions
•Defines common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair)
•Speech should be completely intelligible , in spite of articulation* problems
Cognitive
•Points, names and reproduces different shapes (circle, square, triangle)
•Points and names different colors by name, at least four (blue, red, yellow, green)
•Draws, names, and describes recognizable picture
•Enjoys being read to and retell simple stories
•Expands his or her understanding of time concepts (past, present, future)
•Begins to understand the difference between real events and make-believe ones
•Still unable to consider multiple aspects of a situation (centration)
•Has more extended attention span
Warning signs
•Acts extremely fearful or timid
•Acts extremely aggressively
•Is unable to separate from parents without major protest
•Is easily distracted and unable to concentrate on any single activity for more than five minutes
•Shows little interest in playing with other children
•Refuses to respond to people in general, or responds only superficially
•Rarely uses fantasy or imitation in play
•Seems unhappy or sad much of the time
•Doesn't engage in a variety of activities
•Avoids or seems aloof with other children and adults
•Doesn't express a wide range of emotions
•Has trouble eating, sleeping, or using the toilet
•Can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality
•Seems unusually passive
•Can't correctly give her first and last name
•Cannot build a tower of six to eight blocks by the age of 5
•Seems uncomfortable holding a crayon by the age of 5
•Has trouble taking off clothing
•Cannot brush her teeth efficiently
•Cannot wash and dry her hands
•Cannot understand two-part commands using prepositions by the age of 5 (put the doll on the bed, and get the ball under the couch)
•No use of function or grammatical words (prepositions, articles…) within the phrases by the age of 5
•No adult-style speech and language by the age of 6 years
•Doesn't talk about daily activities and experiences
•Experiences a dramatic loss of skills he or she once
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