Read below a snippet of Sonia Bestulic’s latest article featured on 9Honey Parenting! Find the article here!
“One of the moments parents and carers eagerly await is that of their child saying their first word. When it happens – it is often met with celebration, cheer and smiles of endearment.
I have had the honour of sharing this milestone moment with countless families as a speech and language pathologist over the past 20 years.
Observing and monitoring a child’s development comes with the parenting ‘gig’ – and this is for good reason as research provides strong evidence supporting the benefits and outcomes of early intervention (if needed).
So what is the most frequently asked question I have received when it comes to children developing their communication skills? It is: ‘How many words should be child be saying?’.
So let’s break it down:
First words are typically expressed at around 12-15 months of age, and this is applicable to both girls and boys. For some children, it may be closer to 18 months of age before they say their first word, however, typically children are often using between six and 20 words by this stage.
At around age two, a child is starting to combine words into short phrases, having 50 plus words in their vocabulary. Often there is a burst of spoken vocabulary and overall language learning at this age.
At three years of age, children are expressing themselves in short sentences, using words from their growing vocabulary of 450 plus words. It is often a time that children are asking a lot of questions too – which is an important part of how they learn!
The four-year-old child continues to actively build their spoken vocabulary and the variety of words they use. As their life experiences expand, sentences being spoken are longer – typically over five words in length.
At five years of age, as children are ready to start school, their spoken vocabulary consists of around 1500 words. They are producing long sentences, retelling stories, and engaging in conversation easily, especially with a familiar person.”
Read the rest of the article to discover some tips on boosting your child’s vocabulary here!
