YOUR CHILD’S SPEECH AND LANGUAGE AT 4

At four, your child should demonstrate some of the skills listed below. There continues to be a wide range of average when talking about speech and language skills at this age.

• Points to colors (red, blue, yellow and green).

• Knows some quantitative concepts such as: one more, more, less

• Knows some spatial concepts such as: under, over, next to.

• Follows commands even if object is not present

• Can produce consistently the following sounds: m, n, ng, p, b, h, w. f, h, k, d, g.

• Asks many questions ; uses “who” and “why”

• Can speak of imaginary conditions using phrases like ”I hope”

• Has a sentence length of 4-5 words

• Has a vocabulary of nearly 1500 words

• Uses past tense

You can stimulate your child’s speech and language by:

• Having your child help you plan meals and activities- talk about the steps you will take to complete the activity

• Letting him/her tell and make up stories for you

• Reading longer stories to your child

• Don’t expect perfect pronunciation