Collection: Your Growing 3 Year Old - Academic Milestones

Over the course of the year, your child’s vocabulary will most likely triple itself. He might learn as many as six new words a day, so take the time to talk to him and show him things as often as possible. He’s at an age where he can really soak it up. You don’t even always have to hold an object up or point to it when you say its name for him to understand. By the end of the year he’ll know enough about everyday life to infer a lot of meaning from the context of your words. However, don’t expect perfect and precise usage of the words he knows. His vocabulary is still pretty small and he’ll tend to use specific words as general terms for objects that are similar. For instance, if he knows the word “lion”, the first time he sees a tiger, he may call it a lion. This year, your little one might pick up on the connection between the letters on a page and the words you say when you’re reading him a book. And he might even be able to count to 10!