5 to 11 years

 

5-7 years

Often by 5 or 6 years, children have good communication skills. They are better at using language in different ways e.g. discussing ideas or giving opinions.

Children develop skills at different rates, but beyond 5 years, usually children will:

• Focus on one thing for longer without being reminded
• Rely less on pictures and objects to learn new words
• Use their language skills in learning to read, write and spell
• Learn that the same word can mean two things, such as 'orange' the fruit and 'orange' the colour
• Learn that different words can mean the same thing such as ’minus’ and ‘take away’
• Understand feelings and descriptive words like 'carefully', 'slowly' or 'clever'
• Use language for different purposes such as asking questions or persuading
• Share and discuss more complex ideas
• Use language in a range of social situations

 

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) www.icancharity.org.uk)

If you are concerned about your child, speak to their class teacher. They will be able to refer you to our services. If your child’s main difficulties are their languages skills (understanding and putting together of sentences) or social skills (ability to interact with others) you will typically be invited to attend an appointment at your child’s school. If your child’s main difficulties are their speech sounds (pronunciation of words) you will typically be invited to attend an appointment at your local clinic. From this initial appointment we will decide the best intervention for your child. This might include targets for school to work on or some individual sessions.

 

7-11 years

Speech, language and communication development is a gradual process.

Children develop skills at different rates, but beyond 8 years, usually children will:

• Use language to predict and draw conclusions
• Use long and complex sentences
• Understand other points of view and show that they agree or disagree
• Understand comparative words e.g. ‘it was earlier than yesterday’
• Keep a conversation going by giving reasons and explaining choices
• Start conversations with adults and children they don’t know
• Understand and use passive sentences e.g. “the thief is chased by the policeman”

 

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) www.icancharity.org.uk)

If you are concerned about your child, speak to their class teacher. They will be able to refer you to our services. If your child’s main difficulties are their languages skills (understanding and putting together of sentences) or social skills (ability to interact with others) you will typically be invited to attend an appointment at your child’s school. If your child’s main difficulties are their speech sounds (pronunciation of words) you will typically be invited to attend an appointment at your local clinic. From this initial appointment we will decide the best intervention for your child. This might include targets for school to work on or some individual sessions.