0-12 months
At 0-3 months, children are capable of making simple sounds to express various emotions. For example, when they are happy, they coo and gurgle. When they are upset or tired, babies demonstrate that through crying.
When they are 6 months old, they coo, babble and make sounds consisting of simple syllables, such as “da da” and “ma ma” (Kids In Motion, 2022). At this point, they can laugh, squeal, chuckle and comprehend emotion in other people’s voices.
At 9 months, they try to copy basic words, babble to imitate one’s intonation and understand single words, such as “hi”.
12 months old is when children’s skills are more complex, as they understand more than what they can express, use gestures for requests and attempt to make repetitive sounds with the help of combining consonants and vowels.
2-3 years
Children can form simple sentences that consist of approximately 3-4 words and are better at saying words. The toddlers’ speech becomes more comprehensive to other people at this point in their life. They learn how to use plural nouns, negatives and ask questions. Sometimes, they may talk to themselves while they play. Closer to the age of 3, they use pronouns appropriately and make excellent imitations of adult speech patterns.
3-5 years
This is when children can finally have longer and more complicated discussions with their parents about their views and emotions. The toddlers’ vocabulary is expanding, and so is the range of the topics that they discuss. Moreover, children start showing comprehension of basic grammar and include words similar to “so” and “when” into their sentences (Raising Children Network, 2021). Their playing process is accompanied by commentary and mistakes in their speech are rarer.
5-8 years
This is when children start demonstrating comprehension of the cooperation of sounds within a language and their vocabulary continues expanding. Their storytelling skills improve, as they learn to combine words and form sentences in various ways.
By the age of 6, they can comprehend approximately 13,000 words and antonyms (hot-cold, good-bad). At the age of 7, they can identify errors in people’s speech and understand seasons, such as winter and spring. Finally, at 8, they are acquainted with various polite words and expressions, such as “thank you” and “you’re welcome”. Children start having conversations with adults and properly follow other people’s instructions.
Bibliography
Kids In Motion. (2022). Language and speech development from birth to 8 years. Web.
Raising Children Network. (2021). Language development in children: 0-8 years. Web.