Language Skills for Grades from 3-5

What language skills should a child from age 8-11 know?

Well, this is actually a pretty complex question, and not something that can be answered in one blog post. A child's language development should be looked at through a holistic lens : taking into account how the child interacts with others, complexity of sentences, types of vocabulary used, and ease with remembering directions and details.

However, there are some aspects of language that tend to emerge, or tend to solidify, around this age, that you can work on emphasizing, in your daily conversation. These include -

1. Using a variety of sentences, including those with conjunctions (Although these shirts are nice, I liked the first one better) and in passive voice (The lesson was taught by the teacher)

2. Showing how to use information to make an educated guess - like guessing what a vocabulary word in a book may mean, based on context

3. Following complex directions - with steps, conditions, and details. For example - before putting the dough in the oven, mix in the beaten eggs and add green food coloring at the same time.

4. Editing writing for grammar - focusing on agreement between verbs and pronouns, irregular plurals and past tense, and any other errors that may be present and

5. Showing how to answer simple multiple choice questions -by reading through the question, and all the choices, and REMEMBERING all the choices before choosing the answer

Again, just incorporating more of these targets - maybe one target a week - into daily language is a great boost for speech / language, which is a great boost for overall learning.

Or, if you're a worksheet / book person, here's a fun story / game worksheet bundle for Grades 3-5. With these 12 worksheets, you can review some of these skills even at home!

And finally, if you have questions about your child's speech and language development, or if you want help with particular areas, reaching out to an SLP in your area is a good investment. Speech / language development is the foundation for language development - and acting early is often better than waiting

Happy Talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.