4-5 Years

Receptive Skills

  • Understands most of what is said or signed at home and school

  • Pays attention to short stories

  • Enjoys stories and can understand simple questions

  • Carries out 4 simple related commands in order

  • Understands categories (things that fly, things you eat, things you wear)

  • Understands time concepts (morning, afternoon, night) and seasons of the year

  • Understands words that rhyme

  • Points to or places objects before, after, above, below something when asked

  • Comprehends complex directions about pictures (point to the little girl with red hair and no shoes)

  • Follows directions using a variety of prepositions

  • Answers "What happened? Why"

  • Sequences smallest to largest, shortest to tallest

  • Identifies items that don't belong

ASL

  • Distinguishes double movement nouns from single movement verbs (CHAIR-SIT, AIRPLANE, FLYING)

  • Understands handshape categories (F: BUTTON, FOX, CAT)

Spoken English

  • Comprehends irreversible passives (The ball was kicked by a boy.)

  • Understands over 13,000 spoken words


Expressive Skills

  • Uses 2,500+ words

  • Uses 5+ word sentences with details.

  • Signs or speaks clearly and fluently in an easy to understand manner

  • Begins to ask the meanings of words

  • Can tell made-up stories that stay on topic

  • Uses rhyming in words or signs

  • Identifies some written letters and numbers

  • Uses 'before' and 'after'

  • Asks 'who,' 'what,' 'where, 'why' and 'how' questions

  • Answers 'how' and why' questions

  • Speaks or signs with emotion and body language when describing and event or action

  • Ends conversations appropriately

  • Uses 'if/then' sentences

  • Names categories of items

  • Tells a story including a beginning, middle and end

  • Uses expanded sentences involving two traits (Mother bear - big, mean)

  • Shows the ability to think about and comment on language

ASL

  • Uses space as part of storytelling

  • Uses number distribution (Ex: talking about leaves falling - ONE LEAF FALLS, MANY LEAVES FALL, LEAVES FALL RANDOMLY FROM TIME TO TIME)

  • Uses 5 ASL parameters of handshape (palm orientation, location, movement, and facial expression)

  • Repeats WH-word expressions at the beginning and end of a question (WHO GO WHO) [WH-bracketing]

  • Uses the AGENT sign (FARM-ER, TEACH-ER)

  • Uses topic continuation (holds a sign with one hand and continues signing with the other)

  • Uses body shirt and eye-gaze

  • Uses space to describe spatial concepts and relationship to objects (The cat was under the table. The ball is in front of the chair.)

  • Uses conditional sentences (SUPPOSE TEACHER SICK - CLASS NONE)

  • Uses time indicators (FINISH, NOT-YET)

  • Storytelling includes setting up people and objects in space that are not present

  • Verb modifications show intensity distribution and temporal aspect

  • Uses noun modification to indicate spatial agreement

Spoken English

  • Most sounds are pronounced correctly though the child may have difficulty with 'r,' 'v,' and 'th'

  • Uses 'has,' 'does,' and 'had'

  • Uses clauses (because, when, if, and, so)

  • Uses 'these' and 'those'

  • Uses past and future tense

  • Uses many frequently occurring prepositions (to, from, in, out, an, off, for, of, by, with)

  • Uses irregular third person singular

  • Asks negative tag questions (We got that, didn't we?)

  • Uses copula and auxiliary forms

Social Communication

  • Changes topic appropriately

  • Politely interrupts adult conversations

  • Initiates conversations easily

  • Communicates about imaginary conditions (What if... I hope)

  • Uses words to invite others to play

  • Uses language to resolve disputes with peers (sometimes involving adults)

  • States name of own town

  • Tells month of birth

  • Tells father's and mother's names

  • Begins to engage in humor

  • Begins to understand others points of view

  • Sequences stories