Speech and Language Delay

While many children have symptoms of a speech and language delay in early life, most will develop speech and language naturally. Some, however, do need extra stimulation. This is how our program helps -- it provides the equivalent of millions of spoken words in a just a few weeks of intensive exercise. If your child is not meeting the milestones below, take a look at our program.
Our speech and language program

Recognizing Speech Problems in Children
Milestones By Age

Kindergarten Speech & Language
By the end of kindergarten your child's speech and language development should be as follows:

Listening:

• Follow 1-2 simple directions in a sequence
• Listen to and understand age-appropriate stories read aloud
• Follow a simple conversation

Speaking

• Be understood by most people
• Answer simple "yes/no" questions
• Answer open-ended questions (e.g., "What did you have for lunch today?")
• Retell a story or talk about an event
• Participate appropriately in conversations
• Show interest in and start conversations

First Grade Speech & Language
By the end of first grade your child should be able to do the following:

Listening:

• Remember information
• Respond to instructions
• Follow 2-3 step directions in a sequence

Speaking:

• Be easily understood
• Answer more complex "yes/no" questions
• Tell and retell stories and events in a logical order
• Express ideas with a variety of complete sentences
• Use most parts of speech (grammar) correctly
• Ask and respond to "wh" questions (who, what, where, when, why)
• Stay on topic and take turns in conversation
• Give directions
• Start conversations

Second Grade Speech & Language
By the end of second grade your child should be able to do the following:

Listening:

• Follow 3-4 oral directions in a sequence
• Understand direction words (e.g., location, space, and time words)
• Correctly answer questions about a grade-level story

Speaking:

• Be easily understood
• Answer more complex "yes/no" questions
• Ask and answer "wh" questions (e.g., who, what, where, when, why)
• Use increasingly complex sentence structures
• Clarify and explain words and ideas
• Give directions with 3-4 steps
• Use oral language to inform, to persuade, and to entertain
• Stay on topic, take turns, and use appropriate eye contact during conversation
• Open and close conversation appropriately

Third Grade Speech & Language
By the end of third grade your child should be able to do the following:

Listening:

• Listen attentively in group situations
• Understand grade-level material

Speaking:

• Speak clearly with an appropriate voice
• Ask and respond to questions
• Participate in conversations and group discussions
• Use subject-related vocabulary
• Stay on topic, use appropriate eye contact, and take turns in conversation
• Summarize a story accurately
• Explain what has been learned

Fourth Grade Speech & Language
By the end of fourth grade your child should be able to do the following:

Listening:

• Listen to and understand information presented by others
• Form opinions based on evidence
• Listen for specific purposes

Speaking:

• Use words appropriately in conversation
• Use language effectively for a variety of purposes
• Understand some figurative language (e.g., "the forest stretched across")
• Participate in group discussions
• Give accurate directions to others
• Summarize and restate ideas
• Organize information for clarity
• Use subject area information and vocabulary (e.g., social studies) for learning
• Make effective oral presentations

Fifth Grade Speech & Language
By the end of fifth grade your child should be able to do the following:

Listening

• Listen and draw conclusions in subject area learning activities

Speaking

• Make planned oral presentations appropriate to the audience
• Maintain eye contact and use gestures, facial expressions, and appropriate voice during group presentations
• Participate in class discussions across subject areas
• Summarize main points
• Report about information gathered in group activities

Speech and Language Delays

These are not exact milestones by any means. If you listen to your child, and compare to playmates, brothers or sisters, you can get an impression of whether your child is developing speech problems or whether speech and language development is progressing at a normal rate.

Although language development in children is quite consistent, the exact age when they hit these milestones varies a lot. Factors such as the child's inborn ability to learn language, other skills the child is learning, the amount and kind of language the child hears, and how people respond to communication attempts can slow down or accelerate the speed of speech and language development. This makes it difficult to say with certainty where any young child's speech and language development will be in 3 months, or 1 year.
Specific language impairment details

Your Next Step

Fast ForWord is a series of reading programs that treats reading difficulties by addressing underlying speech and language delays. Its success in addressing language has made it a program of choice for audiologists and speech and language pathologists as a speech therapy program and to improve receptive language skills.

Fast ForWord is suitable for children aged 5 and older. To find out if we can help your child, call for a free consult. Or if you have a question email us here.

The Reading Link
Because reading is a language skill, children with speech and language delays are at risk readers. For that reason alone, parents are advised to be proactive in seeking help for speech and language problems.
Language to literacy link