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4-5 Years

A young boy wearing glasses and a hearing device peers over his father's shoulder while being held.

4-5 Years

Confident Communicators

By this age, your child has language skills to express thoughts about the past, present, and future. Your child has developed a strong foundation of language and is ready for kindergarten.

The Michigan Language Milestones for Deaf/Hard of Hearing are written to highlight typical language development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), regardless of language and communication modality. However, it is recognized that English and American Sign Language (ASL) are different languages with unique features. Therefore, milestones specific to ASL are in bold and those specific to English are italicized. Any use of “word” refers to spoken or signed words.

Michigan Language Milestones for DHH: 4-5 Years [PDF]

  • Receptive Skills

    • Answers questions about the past (e.g., what happened, why, how).
    • Understands similarities (e.g., things that fly, things you eat).
    • Understands time phrases (e.g., later, today, tomorrow, seasons).
    • Understands verb tense.
    • Follows more difficult directions (e.g., get a cup from the top shelf that is not blue).
    • Understands more prepositions (e.g., behind, beside, between).
    • Understands words for order (e.g., first, next, last).

  • Expressive Skills

    • Uses four-to-eight-word sentences.
    • Tells a simple story, including character(s), a setting, and a beginning, middle, and end.
    • Tells made-up stories that stay on topic. (In ASL, this includes using space in storytelling.)
    • Uses 2,500 or more words.
    • Uses two or more describing words in a sentence.
    • Uses time indicators (e.g., FINISH, NOT-YET, yesterday, tomorrow).
    • Uses WH bracketing (e.g., WHO GO WHO).
    • Uses conditionals (e.g., if/suppose).
    • Uses “because,” “if,” “when,” and “so” in sentences.
    • Uses location words when describing (e.g., to, from, up, by, beside, between).
    • Follows simple directions and rules to play games.
    • Uses more complex sentences with correct grammar.
    • Demonstrates appropriate ways to enter and exit conversations.
    • Discusses make-believe things and places.
    • Understands humor.
    • Understands perspective.
    • Tells what town they live in.
    • Tells their birth month.
    • Uses words to invite others to play.
    • Tells their parents’ first names.
    • Uses the five ASL parameters of handshape, palm orientation, location, movement, and facial expression.
    • Uses number distribution (e.g., leaves falling - FALL SINGLULAR - one leaf falls; FALL PLURAL - many leaves fall; FALL RANDOM - leaves fall from time to time, here and there).
    • Uses the AGENT sign (e.g., FARM-ER, TEACH-ER).
    • Uses topic continuation (holds a sign with one hand and continues signing with the other).
    • Uses body shifting and eye-gaze.

  • Pre-Literacy

    • Identifies most uppercase and some lowercase letters.
    • Repeats a familiar rhyme and makes rhymes to simple words.
    • Identifies some numbers.
    • Blends and segments syllables and tells the first sound in some words.
    • Tracks words in a book from left to right, top to bottom, and page to page with adult support.
    • Retells familiar stories with structure and varying verb tense.
    • Recognizes their own name in print.
    • Prints their first name, or at least four letters in their name.
    • Draws pictures of people that have at least a head with eyes, nose, mouth, body, arms, legs, hands, and feet.
    • Understands that books are made up of written words.
    • Draws and prints in a planned and organized way.