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Plenty of exciting changes will occur to your child in their first few years, but one of the changes you should pay attention to is their communication skills. Adena Dacy of the National Association for the Education of Young Children explains that children are expected to achieve average communication milestones by a certain age. Dacy states that these milestones help parents and teachers assess if a child's development is on track because each stage contributes to the further growth of their communication skills.

So if you want to monitor their progress, you should pay attention to these milestones of language acquisition:

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Emission of sounds

Are you hearing a wide variety of sounds from your newborn? Though they may sound odd, this indicates that they're on track with learning languages.

A study by the University of Würzburg researchers shows that healthy infants up to six months of age vocalize to interact with people or communicate any discomfort. These sounds may sound random to most parents, but the researchers pointed out that this allows infants to expand their sounds by their fourth or fifth month. By this time, they'd add consonant- and vowel-like elements into their babbling in preparation for the next milestone.

Introduction of words

Your baby will continue to make non-verbal replies, or fun animal sounds around their first two years. These sounds are important because they set the stage for the next milestone: words!

The language acquisition milestones listed by Maryville University indicate that babies between six and eleven months will attempt to say their first words. This is also usually when they first say "mama" or "dada," making it an exciting milestone for parents to look forward to. They should be able to name objects or people using two to three words once they turn one and speak brief phrases before they turn two.

Start of expressive language

Kids need to learn phrases before they turn two because typical kids speak in two- to four-word sentences by age two to three. Their progress will get even more exciting by the time they reach five, when they should be able to use different types of sentences.

Our article entitled 'What Should My Six and Seven-Year-Old Be Learning?' shares that their ability to express themselves will expand by the time they reach six and seven. Typical kids at this age could speak in complete sentences and even crack a joke during conversations due to their advanced language skills.

Construction of complex sentences

You still need to pay attention to several language milestones, even when your child can speak in complete sentences. After all, their vocabularies are still expanding as they grow older.

The Verywell Family's article on how kids learn languages shares that kids do not resemble adult language until they reach the age of eleven. So, during the pre-teen years, parents should assess if their kids can create although-type sentences and form more complex sentence constructions. For instance, they may say, "Although I had no money, I looked for ways to help my friend." instead of "I had no money, but still helped my friend."

These language acquisition milestones aren't only fun to look forward to and important for parents and teachers to take note of. You can assess your child's language abilities through these milestones and help them get the proper support they may need.

This article was written by Rosetta Joseph

Exclusively for Learning Resources

Can you find the missing letter to complete each word? 

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Can you find all the holiday words hidden in this word search?

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As they learn the basics of reading, writing, and math, your kids can use these toys to build new skills for kindergarten and beyond! When you give your kids toys from Learning Resources, you're giving them skills that last long after the holidays end! 

Our toys help kids build amazing preschool skills, whether they're exploring the wonder of words, learning new colors, or solving puzzling problems! These gifts will grow with your children and help you discover new learning fun every time you give a gift! 

Are you looking for toys to encourage exploration and curiosity for your little explorer(s)? Maybe you're already thinking of your New Year's resolution to spend more time in the great outdoors, with afternoons filled with family nature hikes or child-led winter walks. Learning Resources has you covered! Consider these toys for your budding natural scientist and observant outdoor explorer, all of which fit neatly into a holiday stocking:

• Jumbo Magnifier & Tweezers: Strengthen those fine motor skills and investigate all things tiny with this durable set, which includes a hands-free, pop-out stand on the magnifying glass -- perfect for every feather, leaf, stone, and insect found on your next walk, whether it's around the block or on the trail.
• Headlamp Projector: This is a lightweight, two-for-one tool that includes a beam of light for evening adventures and doubles as a mini projector, with images of birds, mammals, and reptiles on two small disks! Let the imaginative play and educational storytelling begin!
• Big View Binoculars: Durable, simple to use, and with 6x magnification, perfect for your next adventure into the woods -- whether you're looking for birds or something more wild. Stomping around your neighborhood? Use these binoculars to encourage deeper observation of the world around them! Play I-Spy, go on a hunt for specific colors, and/or pair it with a journal to document all of your finds.

Looking for an easy way to stuff the stockings of multiple child explorers? Try these multi-packs!

• Big View Bug Jars: Cute, colorful, and practical! In the lid of each of these jars is a hidden magnifying lens, plus air vents for live specimens under observation. Set of six.
• Jumbo Magnifiers: Now, everyone can explore plants, insects, and other natural items to their heart's content! It comes in a rainbow of colors and is sized perfectly for little hands. Set of six. Spending time outside provides a wealth of benefits, from helping to regulate big emotions and calming the nervous system to strengthening gross motor muscles and providing new sensory exploration opportunities. Use these fun stocking-stuffer toys to foster scientific learning and so much more in the great outdoors!

About the Author, Sarah Yale: With a background in education, youth development, and restorative justice, Sarah Yale wears many hats, including Mom and Librarian. She endeavors to combine her love of children's books and the great outdoors to plan inclusive, play-based activities that foster curiosity and social-emotional learning. An advocate for literacy development, loose parts, and sensory play, Sarah's activities invite you to lean in, read up, and get messy together! See more of her ideas on Instagram at @staycurious_sadertot.

Spending time in preschool prepares your little one for kindergarten success in so many ways. It acclimates them to the classroom environment, helps them learn to get along with other kids (and make friends they may meet up with again in kindergarten), and teaches basic skills like shapes, colors, letters, numbers, counting, and vocabulary. But there are other inherent benefits to sending your child to preschool – things we take for granted but make a big difference in your child’s home life and future school life. Things like:

1. Following Directions

Your child’s preschool teachers, while nurturing and supportive, are also the authority figures your child needs to practice and master following directions. They’ll help your little one learn to stop and listen, line up, sit in a circle, wash their hands, take their things out, pack their things up at the end of the day, and more. And, lucky you, these skills will translate to home, so you’ll find yourself repeating less and your child complying faster.

2. Self-Regulation

During the preschool day, your child will feel and see a range of emotions. They’ll practice expressing and wrangling their own emotions with help from their teachers and classmates. They’ll also begin to experience empathy for other kids experiencing the same feelings, which is mission-critical to making friends later on and a catalyst for sharing and taking turns.

3. Physical Growth

Spending a good part of the day outside, walking, running, jumping, climbing, swinging, and exploring is good for your child’s muscular growth, balance, and coordination. Coloring, painting, practicing holding a pencil, making crafts, and fitting puzzle pieces will build your child’s fine motor skills.

4. Having FUN!

Playing with kids your age is a blast! And incorporating outdoor activity, pretend play, crafting, storytime, and other fun activities into the preschool day sets the stage for a positive mindset about school and learning, which, in turn, gets your child excited about kindergarten.

There are many great reasons to enroll your child in a preschool program, from age-appropriate academics and social-emotional learning to physical development and just plain fun!

We’ve talked about essential milestones for three-, four-, and five-year-olds, but the growth doesn’t stop there! Big kids are tackling some important tasks and becoming more independent with every passing day. From academic achievements to physical growth and development, the middle childhood years of six and seven can be exciting. Remembering that every child learns and grows at their own pace, read on to learn what your big kid might be doing over the next 12-24 months!

Social-Emotional Skills

Sixes and sevens are building their confidence and, in turn, becoming even more independent from their family members and caregivers. You can encourage their independence by assigning age-appropriate responsibilities and applauding their efforts to master things on their own, no matter the outcome. Over the next two years, your big kid is also likely:

• Becoming more compassionate, able not just to recognize emotions but to empathize, as well
• Making authentic connections, enabling them to make and keep good friends
• Cooperating with others while performing a task, playing a game, or working with a sports team
• Understanding fairness and rewards that are based on better or worse performance or effort

Language Skills

Speaking in complete sentences, your big kid can express themselves clearly, share thoughts and opinions verbally, and may even start to express themselves clearly in written form. They’ll also be working on:

• Building their vocabularies – to the tune of five to 10 new words a day
• Their sense of humor! Advanced language skills bring a better understanding of jokes and puns
• Proper punctuation in letters and other written communications (although not in texts!)
• Taking turns speaking – learning not to interrupt can’t come soon enough

Cognitive Skills

First graders are working on addition and subtraction, writing and spelling, shapes and measurement, etc. Practicing at home will help, especially with:

• Reading! Reading skills are blooming, so be sure to have plenty of books and magazines on hand
• Telling time days, learning the days of the week, and the months of the year
• Skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s and working with math manipulatives
• Counting coins and adding their sums

Physical Skills

Your six- or seven-year-old is getting a better feel for the things they enjoy and maybe pursuing hobbies and showing an interest in different sports. At this age, your child may be mastering:

• Passing and catching a ball by throwing or kicking
• Dancing to the rhythm and beat of their favorite music
• Riding a two-wheeled bike, which requires balance, coordination, and confidence
• Drawing, painting, and writing more clearly (a sign of solid fine motor skills)

Your support makes a world of difference in your child’s development, so keep reading, talking, playing educational games, counting change at the store, asking their opinion, and telling them how capable they are.