3-4 years: language development

Three to four years language development

Your pre-schooler will now be talking in simple sentences and will be so keen to communicate with you that he may stutter and stumble when he talks. The average three and a half year old knows more than 1200 words. He will ask a million questions and will expect an answer to all of them. He will love to share books and will start looking at the words on the page.

Developmental milestones:

  • Articulating what he wants to communicate most of the time
  • Speaking very clearly - although some still persist using 'baby talk', and some children cannot yet manage the sounds s, r, z, th, v, f
  • Understanding prepositions such as - around, before, out, through.
  • Asking questions beginning with "What" "Who" "Where" and "Why"?
  • Understanding the movement of time - that yesterday, today and tomorrow are different time periods.
  • Talk in complex sentences that are in the main, grammatically correct
  • Enjoying jokes.

How can I encourage his language development?

  • Continue to read (link to book reviews) to him. When there are so many other exciting things going on in a busy day, it's easy to overlook reading together but this still provides really valuable together time.
  • Invest in some music CDs for young children or nursery rhymes (link to nursery rhymes). You'll be amazed at how fast he'll able to sing along (and turn the stereo on, set up the CD and adjust the volume!)
  • Provide him with some simple musical instrument and make your own band.

Signs there could be a developmental problem include:

  • He is still speaking unclearly, or is not speaking in complete sentences.
  • He can't follow instructions you give verbally.
  • He plays silently - he doesn't talk while he's playing.
  • His sentences are made up of three or less words.
  • He has difficulty understanding meaning when you talk to him.




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