Developmental Milestones
Each year, more than one million children enter kindergarten without the necessary skills to become successful. Young learners with undiagnosed disabilities, developmental delays, and special needs are especially vulnerable to falling behind because they require additional support to address their challenges.
Beginning in infancy, early intervention services strengthen children’s physical, social, emotional, and intellectual capacities by offering individualized supports that reflect their specific needs. Early identification and early intervention services provide the most valuable approach for promoting children’s development during the first years of life.
Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye-bye” are examples of developmental milestones. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave and move. Every child is unique and may reach developmental milestones earlier or later than his or her peers.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides information to parents and caregivers on how to look for developmental milestones and what to do if you are worried about your child’s development or think there’s a problem.
If you are concerned about your child’s development or have questions about a developmental screening, contact the Child & Family Connections office in your region or make a referral.
Families that live in the CFC 14 region, which includes Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Henry, and Stark counties, can click here to complete a free ASQ screening tool.
How your child plays, learns, speaks, and acts offers important clues about your child’s development. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age.
Click on the age of your child to see the milestones. Take this with you and talk with your child’s doctor at every visit about the milestones your child has reached and what to expect next.