

Childcare Center Licensed Under the Ministry of Education
(519) 650-3899
Language Development:
12-2 Years Old
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By now, children say their first words with meaning
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When the child says ‘Dada’, they are calling for dad
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There's an explosion of vocabulary
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Uses words to talk to you
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They enjoy saying the same word over and over or have 'favorite words'
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They use a lot of made-up words
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The child repeats after you
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They understand what you tell them
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They can understand more than what they can say
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They can follow simple directives like "sit down", "come here", "look outside", etc.
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First they’ll understand and say mostly nouns and social words, then adjectives come next, then verbs, adverbs and prepositions.
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The child uses a combination of real words, made-up words, sounds and gestures to communicate
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Around 15 months, the child will point to things and ask for the name
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Around 18 months, the child refers to themselves by their name
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They don't start using 'I' until closer to 2 years old
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Stringing two words together ‘mummy car’ or ‘me go’, combinations being mainly a noun + verb (dog eat, car go)
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Use only a few descriptive words at this age – for example, ‘big’ or ‘red’
By 18 Months:
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The child should know and use at least 20 words minimum and up to 100 words, including different types of words:
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nouns (“baby”, “cookie”)
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verbs (“eat”, “go”)
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prepositions (“up”, “down”)
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adjectives (“hot”, “sleepy”)
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social words (“hi”, “bye”)
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they have new words everyday
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Pronunciation
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By now the child can use a range of sounds to make words
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It's normal for toddlers not to pronounce all the sounds or words correctly
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Children sometimes use the wrong sound, replacing it by another, like saying 'tat' instead of 'cat'
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Some children leave out the end sounds ('ca', instead of 'car')
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By the time they are 2 years old, a stranger should be able to understand about half of your child's words
Conversation
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Learning how to have a conversation is part of the language development
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Children will often start conversation by drawing attention to something (pointing or asking 'what is that?')
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Children can answer simple questions
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Children can understand the difference in your tone (a question, a statement)
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Children know that you are showing them something, if you point or say 'Look!'
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Children start using combination of words, gestures, sounds and tones to make it easier to be understood
When to Seek Assistance:
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The child is not interested in sounds
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The child does not respond to their name or noises
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The child is not trying to communicate with babbling, words or gestures
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Has stopped using a language skill they once had