Age 4 Milestones: Speech, Language, Literacy, Play, and Executive Functioning Skills
Below you will find milestones for speech, language, literacy, play, pragmatics and executive functioning skills.
Language refers to the whole system of words and sentences used to communicate meaning. Speech refers to the sounds in words, also known as articulation. Literacy skills are phonological awareness, reading and writing skills. Play milestones are used as predictors for later language development. Pragmatics is how language is used. Executive functioning is a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control.
These milestones represent the skills that are typically developed by the time a child turns 4 years old. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s development please contact a speech-language pathologist or discuss your concerns with your child’s pediatrician.
Language
Understands 1,200-2,000 words (e.g., running, window, neck, talking, blue, thumb, grapes, swimming, circle, mail, hammer, candle, flag, gate, sad, hopping, plant, kangaroo, muffin, game, barn, writing, ring, farmer)
Identifies basic shapes (e.g., square, circle, triangle) and sizes (e.g., big vs. small)
Follows 2-3 step directions (e.g., put on your jacket, and get your lunchbox from the refrigerator)
Uses 800-1,500 words
Uses pronouns: I, you, me, he, she they, we
Answers simple wh- questions (e.g., who, what, where, what doing, why)
Asks simple wh- questions (e.g, when and how)
Combines 4-5 words per sentence (e.g., give me that toy, I want a snack, I want to go home)
Uses conjunctions (e.g., and, because)
Talks about what happened during the day. Uses about 4 sentences at a time.
Pragmatics/ How is language used
Engages in longer dialogues
Requests permission (e.g., can I have a lollipop?)
Makes conversational repairs when listener did not understand (e.g., the child will repeat or rephrase what they have said when their communication partner did not understand them)
Enjoys imaginary games with peers (e.g., house, school)
Play
Uses blocks for imaginative play (e.g., the child will build enclosures to serve as houses, barns, fences) and plays around the structure
The child will use one object to represent another (e.g., the child uses a doll or a puppet as a participant in play)
Begins to problem solve and plan ahead
Begins to share with peers and adults
Increase dramatization in play (play where children accept and assign roles, and then act them out.)
Cognition/ Executive Functioning
Names some colors and some numbers
Understands the idea of counting
Starts to understand time
Remembers parts of a story
Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts
Uses scissors
Plays board or card games
Predicts: Tells you what they thinks is going to happen next in a book
Understands same vs. different
Speech Sounds
Understood by familiar and unfamiliar communication partners 100% of the time
May still make mistakes on f, l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, and th
Literacy
The following skills emerge at age 3 and are mastered by age 5:
Phonological Awareness
Can segment words into syllables and sounds and sentences in words (e.g., Say cat without the /t/)
Can recognize and produce rhymes (e.g., Do mop and top rhyme?, What rhymes with mat?)
Reading
Learns to recognize letters and name letters
Learns letters have sounds
Learns to recognize their name in print
Turns the page to get to the next part of the story
Learns left right position of print
Writing
Learns to write their own name
Learns to write some capital letters
May use invented spelling to label drawings
Sources:
Applebee, A. (1978). The child’s concept of a story: Ages 2 to 17. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
ASHA. Three to Four Years. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/34/ on January 2, 2021.
Bowen, C. (2011). Table 1: Intelligibility. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ on January 2, 2022.
CDC. (July 27, 2021). Important Milestones: Your Child By Four Years Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-4yr.html. on January 2, 2022
Forbes & G LoGrande (2012). Speech and language development chart (Pro-Ed 2nd edition).
Paul, Rhea. Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence : Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating. St. Louis, Mo. :Elsevier, 2012.
Shipley, K. G., & McAfee, J. G. (2009). Assessment in speech-language pathology: A resource manual. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.
Westby, C.E. (2000). A scale for assessing development of children’s play. In Gitlin-Weiner, K., Sandgund, A., Schaefer, C. (Eds.), Play diagnosis and assessment (pp. 15-57) New York: Wiley.
