Perception of Time

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  • January 12, 2010 at 2:30 pm
    LindseyD
    Participant

    This may sound silly, but I have no idea how to teach my kids (ds almost 6 and dd 4 1/2) a perception of time. They will say things like, “Mommy, do you remember when we went on a date last year?” when really it was just a few weeks ago. Or, “I had fun at my birthday party yesterday” when it was months ago. They have a big wall calendar in their room–the kind that teachers use in classrooms, but they still don’t understand the concept of yesterday, tomorrow, next week, etc. And, I’m actually getting really tired of that calendar because the days fall off the wall all the time.

    Is there a way I can help them grasp this concept? I realize they are young, but surely there must be a way to help them understand.

    Thanks,

    LindseyD

    January 12, 2010 at 2:45 pm
    Esby
    Member

    I would simply insert time into your conversations. Casually talk about your favorite part of the past week, refer to an event that happened last month, mention what they will be doing next week, plan for dinner that will happen in a few hours, tell them about when they were babies several years ago. I think they will eventually catch on without any other effort than that. I think it’s rather normal for kids that age to get time vocabulary mixed up.

    January 12, 2010 at 4:45 pm
    Sonya Shafer
    Moderator

    Great idea, Esby. Here’s another suggestion I would throw in. I used that type of build-it-every-day calendar for several years with my youngest, but she didn’t start to “get it” until I switched to a regular calendar with the dates already on it. Now she Xes off today’s date in the morning and I simply state something like, “That’s right, it’s Tuesday, January 12,” pointing to the words and numbers as I say it. With this type of calendar, I can write in an upcoming event and we can look at how many days or weeks it will be until that event happens. In your case, you could use it to reinforce correct time. When they say “my birthday party last week,” you could go to the calendar and casually say something like, “Oh, yes, I remember that. It was fun! Oh, look! That was in December, a month ago.” Nothing elaborate, but reinforcing.

    Another thought just came to mind. Charlotte Mason talked about most kids already knowing concepts but lacking the precise words to attach to them. So take heart, your children seem to have the concept of past, present, and future; they may just be lacking the exact words to be precise. Those will come with experience and (no pun intended) time. Smile

    January 12, 2010 at 7:40 pm
    LindseyD
    Participant

    Thank you Sonya and Esby! 

    Sonya, I guess what I needed was permission to get rid of that calendar! I’m so tired of its clutter. I’d much rather them have a beautiful, monthly wall calendar.

    ~LindseyD.

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