Children’s first words are generally composed of nouns: the people and things in their lives. Children start to understand and use verbs more frequently as their vocabularies build. They then begin to use modifiers and adjectives. Concepts are among these early modifiers and adjectives. Children acquire these concepts at different stages in their development. Read on for conceptual milestones for children ages 1 through 6.
Conceptual milestones for children ages 1 through 6:
Ages 1-2
- Follows simple commands using spatial terms in or on
- Uses a few spatial terms such as in or on
- Uses simple directional terms such as up or down
Ages 2-3
- Understands number concepts such as 1 or 2
- Understanding of spatial terms become mastered with in, on, off, under, out
- Begins to understand same/different
- Time concepts begin to emerge, specifically with soon, later, wait
- Begins to use color and size vocabulary
Ages 3-4
- Advances spatial terms to understanding next to, besides, between
- Uses spatial terms behind, in front, around
- Begins to follow quantity directions such as a lot and empty
- Identifies colors
- Identifies what is different
Ages 4-5
- Understands comparing concepts such as big, bigger, biggest
- Advances time concepts to days of the week, yesterday, today, tomorrow, next week
- Understands sequence terms such as first, then, next and first, middle, last
- Understands the following concepts different, near, through, thin, whole
Ages 5-6
- Understands opposites such as big/little, over/under
- Understands right/left
- Understands number concepts through 20
- Can describe how things are same and different
- Use conceptual terms to describe
Like all speech and language milestones, concepts developmentally emerge in children’s vocabulary. If you are concerned with your child’s language milestones, particularly with their conceptual knowledge, click here to contact one our Speech-Language Pathologists.
