How Speech Sounds develop in first 5 years

As children begin to speak..  often their errors are adorable, and they spend lots of time listening, practicing words and imitating their caregivers!

About 25% of speech should be understood by familiar people

At 12 months, Children can:

• Babble strings of sounds e.g. mamama, upupup

At 12 months many children still find it difficult to:

• Make sounds made with the teeth and tongue (e.g. t, n, k)

2-3 years

In the toddler years, speech begins to become more consistent, and slowly – clearer!

About 50-75% of speech should be understood by familiar people.

At 2, children can:

• Say the following sounds in words: m, n, h, w, p, b, t, d, k, g, f
• Say 1-2 syllable words (e.g. cookie)

At 2, children may still:

• Drop the final sound e.g. cat → ca
• Repeat a sound in a word e.g. bunny → nunny

At 3, children may still:

• Say a back sound at the front of the mouth e.g. car → tar
• Say a long sound as a short sound e.g. zoo → do
• Drop a syllable e.g. banana → nana

Many children still find it difficult to:

• Produce two consonant sounds together in a blend e.g. play → pay
• Say the “s” or “z” sounds without their tongue poking between their teeth (i.e. an interdental lisp)

4 – 4.5 years

As children get ready for formal schooling, by now their speech is clearer, their sentences much longer, and they are beginning to understand that words are both spoken – and written!

Their speech clarity skills form the foundation for learning to spell and read accurately.

About 95-100% of speech should be understood by both familiar and unfamiliar people

By 4, children can: 

• say the following sounds in words: y, v, 
• produce longer words (e.g. crocodile, tomato)

Children may still be learning to say the following sounds accurately: s, sh, ch, j, ng, z, l

At 4, many children still find it difficult to:

• Accurately say: r, th, zh (e.g.beige)
• Produce two consonant sounds together in a blend with a “s” sound e.g. spoon → poon

5+ years

At this age, all the future growth is focused on developing more complexity in language skills, and by now, all speech is generally able to be understood by both familiar and unfamiliar people.

By 5, children can: 

• Say almost all sounds accurately Produce two consonant sounds together in a blend e.g. st, gr

By 5, children may still: 

• Say “w” for “r” e.g. rabbit → wabbit
• Say “f” for “th” e.g. thumb → fum