• Please keep in mind that these milestones are estimates, not absolute ages that skills must be obtained. Also, a child does not need to have mastered each skill listed, these are general guidelines.

    Communication Milestones Ages 3-4:

    Hearing and Understanding: 

    • Hears you when you call from another room.
    • Hears television or radio at the same loudness level as other family members.
    • Understands words for some colors, like red, blue, and green
    • Understands words for some shapes, like circle and square 
    • Understands words for family, like brother, grandmother, and aunt

     Talking:

    ·         Talks about activities at school or at friends' homes.

    ·         Talks about what happened during the day. Uses about 4 sentences at a time.

    ·         People outside of the family usually understand child's speech.

    ·         Answers simple "who?", "what?", and "where?" questions.

    ·         Asks when and how questions.

    ·         Says rhyming words, like hat-cat

    ·         Uses pronouns, like I, you, me, we, and they

    ·         Uses some plural words, like toys, birds, and buses

    ·         Uses a lot of sentences that have 4 or more words.

    ·         Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words.

     

    Communication Milestones Ages 4-5:

    Hearing and Understanding:

    ·         Understands words for order, like first, next, and last.

    ·         Understands words for time, like yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

    ·         Follows longer directions, like "Put your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and then pick out a book."

    ·         Follows classroom directions, like "Draw a circle on your paper around something you eat."

    ·         Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school.

    Talking:

    Says all speech sounds in words. May make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say, like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, th.

    ·         Responds to "What did you say?"

    ·         Talks without repeating sounds or words most of the time.

    ·         Names letters and numbers.

    ·         Uses sentences that have more than 1 action word, like jump, play, and get. May make some mistakes, like "Zach got 2 video games, but I got one."

    ·         Tells a short story.

    ·         Keeps a conversation going.

    ·         Talks in different ways depending on the listener and place. May use short sentences with younger children or talk louder outside than inside.

     

    Cognition Milestones Ages 3-4:

    ·         Understand the idea of same and different

    ·         Pretend and fantasize more creatively

    ·         Follow three-part commands

    ·         Remember parts of a story

    ·         Count, and understand the concept of counting

    ·         Sort objects by shape and color

    ·         Complete age-appropriate puzzles

    ·         Recognize and identify common objects and pictures

     

    Cognition Milestones Ages 4-5:

    • Can count 10 or more objects with one-to-one correspondence
    • Better understands the concept of time
    • Retells a story from a picture book with reasonable accuracy
    • Can tell what will happen next
    • Names some letters
    • Copies then later prints own name
    • Sorts objects in more than one way (by shape, then by size)

     

    Adaptive Behavior Milestones Ages 3-4 :

    • Completely undresses self
    • Independently puts on socks, coat, sweater, pants manipulates large buttons and snaps
    • Eats entire meal independently
    • Uses a spoon and fork effectively
    • Can pour liquid with some assistance
    • Washes hands unassisted
    • Learns toilet training
    • Wipes nose unassisted (may need a reminder!)

     

    Adaptive Behavior Milestones Ages 4-5:

    • Helps to clean up snack and toys
    • Follows routines with less guidance
    • Wipes face and nose
    • Begins to button and zip
    • Uses all feeding utensils
    • Dresses and undresses without assistance
    • Cares for all toileting needs

     

    Social-Emotional Behavior Milestones Ages 3-4:

    • Cooperates with other children
    • Negotiates solutions to conflict
    • Converses with other children in social situations
    • Plays group games with simple rules
    • Increasingly inventive in pretend play and dress up
    • Calls attention to self (shows off)
    • Shows empathy for others
    • Likes to ‘help’ with simple household tasks

     

    Social-Emotional Behavior Milestones Ages 4-5:

    • Prefers play with others, selects own friends
    • Wants to please friends
    • More likely to follow rules
    • Understands rules of fair play, explains rules of games to others
    • Shows concern for others, expresses the feeling of being sorry
    • Can distinguish fantasy from reality

     

    Motor Skills Milestones Age 3:

    Gross Motor:

    • Stands on 1 foot for 3 seconds
    • Jumps forward
    • Jumps off a step
    • Walks on a line
    • Walks backward
    • Walks on tip toes
    • Throws a ball overhand
    • Catches a ball consistently
    • Kicks a ball forward
    • Pedals a tricycle
    • Walks up stairs alternating feet

     Fine motor:

    • Uses neat pincer and 3-jaw chuck (3 finger tips) to pick up small items.
    • Uses both hands together in front of body for tasks.
    • Build tower of 9-10 cubes.
    • Puts pegs into pegboard
    • Demonstrates hand dominance for many tasks
    • Turns pages of book singly
    • Uses inverted or fisted grasp to hold writing utensils
    • Strings large beads
     Visual Motor Skills:
    • Colors approximately 50% of 8-10 inch picture
    • Imitates pre-writing strokes (o,-,l)
    • Imitates 3-block designs
    • matches colors
    • Places circle, square and triangle into inset puzzle
    • Points to pictures of familiar objects

    Motor Skills Milestones Ages 4:

    Gross Motor:            

    • Stands on 1 foot for 5 seconds
    • Hops on 1 foot, 2 times in a row
    • Gallops
    • Walks up and down stairs alternating feet
    • Pedals and steers tricycle smoothly
    • Catches a bounced ball consistently
    • May start to pump a swing

     Fine Motor Skills:

    • Snips across paper with scissors.
    • Strings small beads
    • Has definite hand dominance
    • Uses inverted or tripod grasp for writing utensils

     Visual Motor Skills:

    • Imitates cross stroke, diagonal lines and square
    • Holds paper in place with other hand while coloring
    • Uses multiple colors to color picture
    • Matches shapes
    • Completes 8-10 piece inset puzzles

     

    Motor Skills Milestones Ages 4:

    Self-Care:

    • Helps to clean up snack and toys
    • Follows routines with less guidance
    • Wipes face and nose
    • Begins to button and zip

     

    Motor Skills Milestones Age 5:

    Gross Motor

    • Stands on 1 foot for 10 seconds
    • Hops forward on 1 foot, 6 or more times without stopping
    • Jumps backward
    • Jumps sideways
    • Skips
    • Pumps a swing
    • Walks up and kicks a rolling ball
    • Walks on a line backward
    • Runs smoothly changing directions

     Fine motor skills:

    • Cuts lines and simple curves with standard scissors.
    • Holds writing utensils with tripod grasp
    • Opens and closes containers.

     Visual Motor Skills:

    • Copies triangle, prints first name and traces other letters.
    • Completes simple interlocking puzzles
    • Matches letters and numbers
    • Imitates 5-6 block designs
     

    When to Be Concerned:

    Ages 3-4

    • Cannot throw a ball overhand
    • Cannot jump in place
    • Cannot ride a tricycle
    • Cannot grasp a crayon between thumb and fingers
    • Has difficulty scribbling
    • Cannot stack four blocks
    • Still clings or cries whenever his parents leave him
    • Shows no interest in interactive games
    • Ignores other children
    • Doesn’t respond to people outside the family
    • Doesn’t engage in fantasy play
    • Resists dressing, sleeping, using the toilet
    • Lashes out without any self-control when angry or upset
    • Cannot copy a circle
    • Doesn’t use sentences of more than three words
    • Doesn’t use “me” and “you” appropriately

     

    Ages 4-5

    • Exhibits extremely fearful or timid behavior
    • Exhibits extremely aggressive behavior
    • Is unable to separate from parents without major protest
    • Is easily distracted and unable to concentrate on any single activity for more than five minutes
    • Shows little interest in playing with other children
    • Refuses to respond to people in general, or responds only superficially
    • Rarely uses fantasy or imitation in play
    • Seems unhappy or sad much of the time
    • Doesn’t engage in a variety of activities
    • Avoids or seems aloof with other children and adults
    • Doesn’t express a wide range of emotions
    • Has trouble eating, sleeping, or using the toilet
    • Can’t differentiate between fantasy and reality
    • Seems unusually passive
    • Cannot understand two-part commands using prepositions (“Put the cup on the table”; “Get the ball under the couch.”)
    • Can’t correctly give her first and last name
    • Doesn’t use plurals or past tense properly when speaking
    • Doesn’t talk about her daily activities and experiences
    • Cannot build a tower of six to eight blocks
    • Seems uncomfortable holding a crayon
    • Has trouble taking off her clothing
    • Cannot brush her teeth efficiently
    • Cannot wash and dry her hands