Healthy Children Milestone Category

Language

Milestone Name	Expected Age
Responds to own name	7
Begins to respond to “no”	7
Distinguishes emotions by tone of voice	7
Responds to sound by making sounds	7
Uses voice to express joy and displeasure	7
Babbles chains of consonants	7
Pays increasing attention to speech	12
Responds to “no”	12
Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for “no”	12
Babbles with inflection	12
Says “dada” and “mama”	12
Uses exclamations, such as “oh-oh!”	12
Tries to imitate words	12
Points to object or picture when it’s named for him	24
Recognizes names of familiar people, objects, and body parts	24
Says several single words	18
Uses simple phrases	24
Uses two- to four-word sentences	24
Repeats words overheard in conversation	24
Understands the concepts of “same” and “different”	48
Has mastered some basic rules of grammar	48
Speaks in sentences of five to six words	48
Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand	48
Tells stories	48
Recalls part of a story	60
Speaks sentences of more than five words	60
Uses future tense	60
Tells longer stories	60
Says name and address	60
Follows simple instructions	24
Responds to simple verbal requests	12