Children's Developmental Milestones

Children's Development Milestones

Now that Six Early Literacy Skills have been broken down, I thought I'd share the development milestones in children that will help us understand how a child is developing. This information will assist us in enhancing our storytimes with activities, books, and crafts accordingly.

From 0 - 12 Months

• Has full color vision (6 months for eyes sight to fully develop with color vision - high contrast books recommended)

• Socializes by watching faces

• Becomes interested in pictures

• Stands for a moment without support

• Looks at correct picture when image is named

• Begins to use objects correctly

By 24 Months

• More excited about the company of other children

• Separation anxiety increases towards midyear, then fades

• Begins to sort by shapes and colors

• Begins make-believe play

• Recognizes names or familiar people, objects, and body parts

• Scribbles on his or her own

By 3 Years

• Objects to major changes in routine

• Matches an object in hand or the room to a picture in a book

• Vision nears 20/20

• Understands most sentences

• Bends over easily without falling

• Turns book pages one at a time

By 4 Years

• Cooperates with other children

• Often can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality

• Recalls parts of a story

• Understands the concepts of "same" and "different"

• Begins to copy some capital letters

By 5 Years

• Abel to distinguish fantasy from reality

• Can count 10 or more objects

• Understands books are read left to right, top to bottom

• Hops, somersaults, stands on one foot

• Understands that stories have a beginning, middle, and end

• Draws pictures that represent animals, people, and objects