5 Year Milestones
Language Development is the process by which children come to understand and communicate language during early childhood. From birth to age five, children develop language at a very rapid pace. The stages of language development for humans are universal, however the age and the rate at which a child reaches each developmental milestone can vary greatly among children. A child’s development should not be compared to that of other individual children but rather be compared to norms. Generally girls develop language at a faster rate than boys. More than any other aspect of development, language development reflects the growth and maturation of the child’s brain. For a child after the age of five it becomes much more difficult to learn language. Early Intervention is critical. A typically developing child usually develops receptive language development (the ability to understand language) faster than expressive language (ability to communicate).
If your child is missing any of the items in the appropriate age milestones, please complete the “Referral Form” or contact us. Early intervention is vital to your child’s speech and language development.
Social/ Emotional
- Wants to please friends
- Wants to be like friends
- More likely to agree with rules
- Likes to sing, dance, and act
- Is aware of gender
- Can tell what’s real and what’s make believe
- Shows more independence (e.g. may visit a next door neighbor by himself)
- Is sometimes demanding and sometime very cooperative
Language/ Communication
- Speaks very clearly
- Tells a simple story using full sentence
- Uses future tense (e.g. “Grandma will be here”)
- Says name and address
Cognitive (Learning, Thinking, and Problem-solving)
- Counts 10 or more things
- Can draw a person with at least 6 body parts
- Can print some letters or numbers
- Copies a triangle and other geometric shapes
- Knows about things used every day, like money and food
Movement/ Physical Development
- Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
- Hops; may be able to skip
- Can do a somersault
- Uses a fork and spoon, sometimes a table knife
- Can use the toilet by self
- Swings and climbs