By the age of 5, most children have the following skills:

Receptive Language:

  • Understand opposites, e.g. high/low, wet/dry, big/little
  • Understand words for order e.g. after, then, last, first, next
  • Understand ‘time’ words such as yesterday, tomorrow, later
  • Follow three-step directions, e.g. “Stand up, get you shoes on and wait by the door

Expressive Language:

  • Use complete sentences with correct grammar
  • Talk about events which are happening, have happened or might happen
  • Explain why something happens, e.g. “Mum’s car stopped because the petrol ran out”
  • Explain the function of objects, e.g. “This tie keeps my hair away”
  • Talk about feelings and share ideas
  • Speak clearly and should be understood by anyone
  • Use all pronouns correctly (he, she, him, her, I, you, them)
  • Use past, present and future tenses of verbs (sit, sitting, sits, will sit)
  • Starting to use some irregular verbs (drank, fell)
  • Explain details that occurred in the past with accurate detail
  • Can keep a conversation going

Sounds used in play, babble or words:

  • p
  • b
  • m
  • w
  • p
  • b
  • m
  • w
  • p
  • b
  • m
  • w
  • h
  • n
  • t
  • d

Play:

  • Play alone or alongside child
  • Use concrete objects to play
  • Will use objects in play (e.g. pretend to drink from a cup)
  • Will carry out an action on an object (e.g. feed doll, pretend to sweep floor)

Literacy:

  • Listen and attends to stories
  • Stories have a central character or event. There is a sequence of events that relate to the main character or event. Sentences are often linked with ‘and then’ or ‘and’
  • Become interested in writing, numbers &reading things (road signs, etc)
  • Break words into syllables
  • Generate words that rhyme
  • Identify the 1st sound in words (in particular own name, classmates, etc)
  • Begin to break simple words into individual sounds (e.g. c-a-t)
  • Know sounds related to letters

Cause for concern:

  • Unable to follow instructions at school
  • Uses short sentence
  • Makes many grammatical errors
  • Showing little interest in letters, reading and writing
  • Unable to generate rhyming words
  • Finds it difficult to break words into syllables
  • Limited ability to identify the sound a word begins with
  • Making errors producing sounds (at this age it is children will still make errors when producing the sounds ‘r’ and ‘th’)
  • Unable to accurately recount events from the past

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s language development, feel free to complete the checklist for a speech pathologist to reviewv

    By the age of 5, most children have the following skills:

    Receptive Language
    Understand opposites, e.g. high/low, wet/dry, big/littleFollow three directions, e.g. "Stand up, get you shoes on and wait by the door"

    Expressive Language:
    Use complete sentences with correct grammarTalk about events which are happening, have happened or might happenExplain why something happens, e.g. "Mum's car stopped because the petrol ran out"Explain the function of objects, e.g. "This tie keeps my hair away"Talk about feelings and share ideasSpeak clearly and should be understood by anyoneUses all pronouns correctly (he, she, him, her, I, you, them)Uses past, present and future tenses of verbs (sit, sitting, sits, will sit)Uses irregular verbs (drank, fell) with some consistencyExplains details that occurred in the past with accurate detail

    Sounds that are correctly produced:
    p, b, t, d, m, n, h, y, w, ngkglfshchszvj
    **Sounds should be correctly produced in the beginning, middle and end of words

    Literacy:
    Listens and attends to storiesStories have a central character or event. There is a sequence of events that relate to the main character or event. Sentences are often linked with ‘and then’ or ‘and’Become interested in writing, numbers &reading things (road signs, etc)Breaks words into syllablesGenerate words that rhymeIdentify the 1st sound in words (in particular, own name, classmates, etc)Begin to break simple words into individual sounds (e.g. c-a-t)Know sounds related to letters

    Cause for concern:
    Unable to follow instructions at schoolUses short sentenceMakes many grammatical errorsShowing little interest in letters, reading and writingUnable to generate rhyming wordsFinds it difficult to break words into syllablesLimited ability to identify the sound a word begins withMaking errors producing sounds (at this age it is children will still make errors when producing the sounds ‘r’ and ‘th’)Unable to accurately recount events from the past

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