Understanding Language
Children need to be able to understand words before they are able to use them for themselves. Understanding what is said to us involves lots of different skills. Understanding spoken language (or receptive language skills) usually develops in the following way.
Babies recognise and respond to familiar voices. They enjoy being spoken to and will start to recognise frequently used words that they hear often.
By 1 year old, most children will understand some single words and be able to follow simple instructions in familiar situations (e.g. 'Where is your cup?')
By 2 years old, most children can process instructions with 2 key words (e.g. 'Where's Mummy's nose?') They will know some action words and some describing words including early position words (e.g. 'in', 'on').
At 3 years old, most children can process instructions with 3 key words. They will understand more position words and know some words to describe size and colour. They may identify objects by their use (e.g. 'Something you eat'), follow simple stories with pictures and understand simple questions (e.g. 'who', 'what', 'where').
Most 4 year olds can follow longer instructions and understand more abstract concepts and describing words (e.g. 'hot', 'cold', 'long', 'short', etc.) including sequencing words such as first, after, etc. They will start to understand more complex questions, not only related to what they can see.
Some children have difficulty understanding what is said to them. These children may have difficulty following instructions and learning new words and concepts. Simplifying what we say and allowing extra time to process information can help children with understanding.
