When a baby is just born into the world, for him there is no concept of time. He lives only the moment now. Therefore, the baby calls his mother up and down, demanding her warmth and mother's milk. And it doesn’t matter that she screams from another room, which will come soon. For him, no idea soon.
A little later, all these whims of one-year-old children happen, who need some kind of toy or entertainment and are not ready to wait to get what they want.
However, by the age of three, an idea of the time of day is already forming. The kid is already starting to distinguish between morning, day, evening and night. This greatly facilitates the life of parents, because you can already agree on something with the child, referring to the time.
As we see, for every age its own concept of time is characteristic. Therefore, it is most advisable to disassemble techniques for teaching time according to age periods.
How to teach a child of time: from birth to a year
As we already said, at this age the child is still far from any representation of time. However, you can begin to prepare the ground for further understanding of the time of day.
1. Stick to a specific daily routine. The regimen will best explain to the child that there is a certain sequence of events in this life, which is called time. Of course, you should always focus on the well-being, health and temperament of the child. You should not go against nature. In fact, children are often the ones who build their own regimen. You only need to determine it and maintain it every day. Please note that during the first year of life, the child’s regimen changes several times. After all, the baby is getting older, and he needs less sleep and more action.
2. Read books with the child, which depict day and night, the sun and the moon, winter and summer. Pay attention to the baby that when you walk - the sun is shining. And when you go to bed - it gets very dark outside.
How to teach a child of time: from a year to three years
The child is getting older and already understands a lot. You just need to continue to tell your child the details of how this world works. Children absorb all the information like a sponge, even if they are not talking at all.
1. Draw with your child paintings on the theme of the time of day, as well as the seasons. By the age of one and a half years, the child had already seen snow and green grass. It is only necessary to remind him of these natural phenomena. Colorize the coloring or draw arbitrary plot pictures. Use bright colors and your own imagination.
2. Show the child photographs in which he himself is sleeping or awake, walking in the green grass or playing with snow. It will be easier for the child to perceive the information if it is somehow connected with himself.
3. Continue reading a wide variety of books illustrating the seasons and days.
4. Introduce the baby to the watch. Show your child what kind of watch there is: wristwatch, wall clock, built-in home appliances. Let the child simply touch, feel, push the buttons. It is very important for children to identify the subject through tactile and sensory sensations.
How to teach a child of time: from three to five years
At this age, you can already familiarize your child with the concepts of hours and minutes. The main thing for this is a creative approach and a game form. You should not study this subject through force, otherwise the baby will quickly lose interest and stop remembering anything.
1. Explain to the baby such concepts as year, month, week. You can create your own calendar for the week with your child. To do this, you can take 7 photos with the child himself. Each of the photos will depict the child's activity on one of the days of the week.
2. Make your own watch model from sturdy cardboard. Large numbers should be displayed on a large dial. Attach one thick and short arrow that can be twisted. Explain to your child that the hand on a watch always moves in one direction only. Let the baby learn to turn the arrow in the right direction.
3. For starters, you can only stick pictures on the dial depicting the time of day and the routine of the child’s regime: at 7 o’clock the baby has breakfast, at 10 he walks, at night he sleeps, at 4 he walks again and so on. It is important that the baby understands the relationship between the watch and the sequence of events.
4. A little later, explain to your child the concept of an hour of time. Put the arrow exactly one digit. After an hour - move one division. After an hour - move again. Next time, let the child move the arrow to the desired position.
How to teach a child of time: from five to seven years
At this age, the child is already able to understand more complex concepts of time, such as minutes and seconds.
1. You can use the same homemade dial. Add a long thin arrow there. Tell your child that hour is divided into minutes.
2. First set the minute hand flush with the clockwise. Explain to the baby that in this position the shooter comes exactly one hour. Challenge the child to set the arrows exactly three hours, then exactly six, nine, twelve hours. Let the kid talk about what he learned to his relatives and friends.
3. The next step in teaching time should be the concept of half an hour. Explain to your child how to set the minute hand so that the clock shows half an hour. Practice with him.
4. Explain to the child that the hour contains 60 minutes. And each of these minutes is shown by the minute hand.
5. Closer to 7 years, explain the concept of seconds. You can buy a stopwatch. Let the baby do small races, and you show him how many seconds he ran this or that distance.
6. Show the child that there are various watch options - with a dial and hands, as well as simply displaying hours and minutes in digital form.
Abstract concepts, including time, do not immediately fit into the head of children. The question of how to teach a child of time will not bother you so much if you approach this in a playful way without overloading the child’s mind.
