Raising Children Network: the Australian parenting website
  • Suitable for 3-6Years

Talking: preschoolers

By Raising Children Network
 
 

Your chatty toddler probably had a vocabulary of about 300 words and could speak in sentences of about five or six words. By your child's fourth birthday her language skills are likely to develop markedly, giving her a vocabulary of about 1500 words.

Did you knowQuestion mark symbol

The more words your child hears, the more words she learns.
 

What to expect

Your preschooler will probably:

  • be able to ask more complex questions with better grammar after birthday number three
  • use increasingly sophisticated language
  • say sentences of 5-6 words by age four, increasing to eight-word sentences by age five
  • be able to say her name and address by age five
  • use about 1500 words at age four, and learn another 1000 words by age five
  • be able to speak clearly and have meaningful conversations with you between the ages of five and six.

By five, your child will learn about another 1000 words and will delight you with detailed stories, real and imaginary, using sentences of up to eight words in length.

Your six-year-old will probably be comfortably communicating (though she will sometimes still get muddled: don’t we all?). Understanding tenses will still be a challenge.

Research shows that your child's language will benefit greatly if you listen and chat with her. Your preschooler is likely to be keen to talk to you, to friends and to other family as much as possible in these years. In fact, kids this age often have so much news to share that they stumble over the words and get frustrated. It's common. Your child will get the words out in her own time, if you have the patience to sit back and listen.

Play ideas to encourage talking

The more often you talk to, or around, your preschooler, the better her chance of developing a sizeable vocabulary. The best way to encourage your child’s language skills is to focus on fun activities such as singing songs, or reciting nursery rhymes, rather than correcting pronunciation or grammar.

Some of the best ways to encourage talking through play are to:

  • read aloud together
  • talk
  • sing songs
  • listen to CDs of stories or songs in the car
  • tell jokes and riddles.

All children develop at their own pace. If you're concerned about any aspect of your child's development, it is a good idea to visit your health professional.

 
 
 
  • Last reviewed11-05-2006
  • ReferencesManning-Morton, J., & Thorp, M. (2003). Key times for play: The first three years. Philadelphia: Open University Press.