Childrens Museum Of Maine

142 Free St
207-828-1234
Portland Public Library
5 Monument Square
Portland Maine
Childrens
Language
Development

Talk to them. Explain what
you are doing when cooking
dinner or giving a bath. This
will give them words and
language to describe things in
their environment.
Read books and Tell stories
to them. Let them read
books and look at them,
sleep with them, turn the
pages. Show them books are
important.
Sing songs
Practice the art of conversa-
tion. Look in their eyes, take
turns talking.
Ask Open Ended Questions
instead of yes or no ques-
tions.
Ways to Help Your
Childs Language
Development:

How Childrens Language Develops
Birth-Age Three
CHILDRENS
LITERATURE
PROGRAMS
If you want your children to be
intelligent, read them fairy tales. If
you want them to be more intelli-
gent, read them more fairy tales.
Albert Einstein


6 months
Responds to Name
Vocalizes in response to peo-
ple.
12 months
Can say one or more words
Understands simple direc-
tions. Touch your nose
18 months
Can say about 5-20 words,
mostly nouns (person, place
or thing)
Follow simple commands.
(Get your coat)
24 months
Has between 150-300
Words
Uses at least 2 prepositions
(in, on, un-
der)
Should be
able to un-
derstand
about 2/3 of
what child
says.
Stages of Childrens Language Development
36 months
Should have
between 900-
1000 words.
Uses pronouns
correctly (I,
you, Me)
Should be able
to understand
about 90%
48 months
Knows one or more colors
Knows names of familiar animals
60 months
Count to 10
Knows common opposites (big/little)
6 years
Should be able to tell a story based on
a picture.
7 Years
Simple reading and writing
8 years
Can hold a conversation at an adult
level.

It is important to remember that all
children develop at their own rate in
their own way. The stages listed are
guidelines and not meant to be gen-
eral rules for all children. Many fac-
tors should be taken into account
when thinking about child develop-
ment. Speech delays and hearing is-
sues can afect how children pick up
language. It is important to keep the-
se stages in mind so you can identfy
any red fags in a childs language de-
velopment and plan for early interven-
ton services as needed.
Please talk to your childs pediatrician
or contact CDS directly.
50 Depot Rd
Falmouth, Maine
04105
207-781-8881 (with 24 hour voicemail)
CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Its never to early
to talk to a baby!
Caption describing
picture or graphic.