The Home Development Curriculum
A gentle, professional plan for what to focus on, and which programs to follow, at each stage of your child’s growth, from the very earliest foundations right up to starting school.
This is the same stage-by-stage plan our therapists talk through with families at the Inclusive Developmental & Therapy Centre. You can work through it on your own, and you can print it and stick it on the fridge.
What makes practice at home actually work?
Four things, and none of them cost anything. In our experience the families who keep going are rarely the ones with the best toys — they are the ones who kept the sessions short, kept them fun, and forgave themselves for the days it didn’t happen. On those days, our little reminders for tired parents are worth two minutes of your time.
Follow your child, not the calendar
The ages here are only a rough guide. Meet your child where they actually are, move on when they’re ready, and never rush it.
Little and often wins
Ten focused, playful minutes a day beats an hour once a week. Fold the learning into things you’re doing anyway.
Play is the method
Children learn best when they’re having fun, so every activity here is play-based on purpose.
You are the key
Warm, responsive time with you is the most powerful “program” there is, and you’ve already got it.
Which stage is my child at?
Read the four stages below and pick the one that matches what your child can do today, not the one that matches their age. Most children sit across two stages at once — talking like a two-year-old and running like a four-year-old is completely ordinary.
Connection, communication and early movement. These are the roots everything else grows from.
→ Check milestones for this ageGrowing language and play, a bit more independence, and learning to handle big feelings.
Social skills, staying with a task, and getting ready to learn alongside other children.
→ Everyday situations parents ask us aboutThe pre-academic skills that help the first days of school go well.
Do the stages stop and start?
No. They overlap, and most areas keep going long after the stage that introduces them. Talking work begins in the first year and never really stops; early reading only joins the picture once language is solid. Here is roughly when each area matters most.
How much time should this take each day?
Ten to fifteen minutes a day, most days, is enough for a home program to do its job. Short and regular beats long and rare. A few days a week still counts. The easiest way to keep it going is to attach the practice to something already in your day — bath time, the walk to school, dinner, the drive to nani’s house.
No special equipment, and no hours you don’t have. A balanced week might look something like this — chop and change it to suit your family.
Every day
- 10 minutes of face-to-face talking play
- Read or share a book together
- Name feelings as they happen
A few times a week
- A fine-motor or hands activity
- Active, big-body movement play
- A turn-taking game — brothers and sisters can join in
Keep steady
- Consistent sleep and mealtime routines
- Praise the behaviour you want to see
- Celebrate every small win
Which language should we use at home?
Use the language you speak most comfortably — Urdu, Saraiki, Punjabi or English. Children learn language fastest from a parent who sounds natural, tells stories and jokes easily, and has thousands of words to give. Growing up with two languages does not cause a speech delay, and a child’s vocabulary is counted across both languages together.
اردو · In your own words
Parents often write to us in their own words: “میرا بچہ بولتا نہیں” — mera bacha bolta nahi. “دیر سے بولتا ہے” — der se bolta hai. “زبان صاف نہیں ہے” — zaban saaf nahi hai.
If that is your child, begin at Stage 1 and Stage 2 above and do the activities in your home language. You do not have to switch to English for the practice to work — and if your child says paani at home and water at school, that is two words in their total, not one.
What if my child isn’t keeping up with their stage?
Being a few months behind a stage is common and usually fine. What is worth asking about is a child who is a long way behind their stage across several areas, who has stopped making progress, or who has lost a skill they used to have. In those cases, get an opinion rather than waiting another six months.
Talk to a doctor, a speech and language therapist or a developmental team if you notice any of the following. None of them is a diagnosis on its own — they are reasons to ask, not reasons to panic.
- Little or no babbling and few sounds by around 12 months.
- No single words by around 18 months.
- No two-word phrases, such as “more juice”, by around two and a half.
- Words, gestures or play skills your child once had and has now lost.
- Not turning to their name or to loud sounds — ask for a hearing check first, before anything else.
- Very little interest in sharing attention, pointing things out or playing with the people around them.
If you want a structured way to think it through, our free two-minute development check walks you through the questions a therapist would ask. And if your child has already been given a diagnosis, start instead with our guide for families who have just been given a diagnosis — this curriculum will still be here afterwards.
This curriculum takes widely recognised child-development guidance, including the WHO and UNICEF Nurturing Care framework and CDC developmental-milestone guidance, and turns it into practical steps for home. It supports professional assessment, but it doesn’t replace it. See our evidence base →
Questions parents ask about the home curriculum
The things families ask us before they start — and in week three, when it gets hard.
Can I follow this at home instead of taking my child to a therapist?
Use it as a first step, not a replacement. If your child is developing typically, a good home routine may be all they need. If something is genuinely delayed, home practice works best alongside an assessment — a therapist tells you which skill to target next, and this curriculum is how you practise it during the rest of the week.
My child is four but seems to be at Stage 2. Which stage do I follow?
Follow the stage that matches what your child can do, not their birthday. Starting a stage too high is the most common reason home practice stops working — the activity is too hard, your child opts out, and everyone feels like a failure. Drop back a stage, get some easy wins, then build.
We speak two languages at home. Will that confuse my child?
No. Growing up with Urdu, Saraiki, Punjabi and English together does not cause a speech delay, and switching to English “to help” usually makes things worse because your own language sounds more natural and richer. When you count your child’s words, count both languages as one total — “paani” and “water” are two words, not one word repeated.
How long before I see a change?
It depends on the child and on what you are working on, and nobody can promise you a date. What usually shifts first is not words — it is engagement: more eye contact, more turn-taking, more coming back to you for another go. That is the signal the routine is working, and language often follows it.
My child was born premature. Should I use their actual age?
For a baby born early, clinicians usually work from the corrected age — the age from the due date rather than the birth date — until around two years. So a 15-month-old born three months early is compared with a 12-month-old. After about two, most children are measured on their actual age. If you are unsure, ask at your next check-up.
My child has autism or Down syndrome. Is this curriculum still for us?
Yes, as a foundation — the principles of short, playful, everyday practice apply to every child. But you will want a tailored plan on top of it. Start with our home program for building connection or the Down syndrome home program, and bring the plan to whoever is assessing your child.
Wondering about assessments, session length or school reports instead? Our full FAQ for parents covers those.
Want this curriculum tailored to your child?
A short, friendly conversation is the best first step. Call, text or WhatsApp us — we’ll listen and guide you, with no pressure.
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