in expecting my 5(6 in September)year old to understand the concept of time???

[Sammiez]

Hi,
My almost 6year old dd does not seem to understand the concept of time. She knows the days of the week,months of the year and can tell the time but only the 'o' clock and that's it. I am okay with that but she doesn't get it when something happened two days ago and cannot figure out that today is Monday because she doesn't remember she has just had the weekend.
Am I being unreasonable? Otherwise how do I help her please?

Unfortunately UABU but only to give you the short answer.

Time is quite a tricky concept and children get it, when they get it.
They can be as old as ten before they understand time.

Your dd is doing well knowing days of the week and months of the year.

You only learn to tell the time once, just like you learn to read and write once. Everyone does it at their own pace and that is no reflection what so ever on their intelligence.

Don't worry, she doesn't need any help.

P.S. My 6DD's are at level 2C (which I understand is a level of work you'd expect from Yr 2 children (they're just finishing Y1) and neither of them know the correct order of the months of the year. One of them can tell the time, the other only knows the o'clocks).

Does she need to understand it yet? I don't think DS1 does really. I just asked him what day it was and he "I dunno, why?".

Time is actually a bit of a bizarre concept, as is naming the days of the week and the way they roll on.

It is a human construct and something that is not instinctive.

YABU.
Ds1(6.6) has little concept that something he remembers was 3 months ago , or 6 months or 2 years.
All the children in his year (Yr 1) are the same.
they are studying time and can tell the time, hourly and half hourly.
but putting into action, and understanding time as in months and years, is not age appropriate at this time.

You could try writing lengths of time on flash cards (1 second -1 year for example), and get her to put them in order, making a 'timeline' going from shortest amount of time to longest. Ask her whether a day is longer or shorter than a minute etc.

I really wouldn't worry about it, though- if she shows no interest I wouldn't push it. She'll get it when she's ready.

Do you have a month-to-view calendar? If not it is fairly easy to create one. Then you can mark the weekends in a different colour to the weekdays. At the end of each day ask your DD to cross off the day. You can also add stickers, or draw pictures, for events that are coming up (eg. birthdays, swimming, holiday). After a few weeks of this your DD should be able to see the pattern of weekdays and weekends and will have a visual reminder of what she did at the weekend, plus what is coming up in the week ahead.

YABU
Perfectly normal at this age.

No need to 'help' her in any way. Understanding time will come with age and experience.

The best way to discuss time at this age - and even until about 7 or 8 years old - is to link events with reliable life experiences. Eg instead of saying "next Monday" or "in two days' time", say something like "after two more night-sleeps" or "the day after ballet".

Ordering the past is even trickier.

BTW, my 7yo can tell the o'clocks and some of the quarters, but nothing more. Her brother was the same at that age. Bot are well ahead of their KS level, and the teachers consider their time-awareness perfectly appropriate.

Thanks a lot! I just wondered really and feel better now. I was concerned because I thought she should at least know that after the weekend comes Monday since she knows the days of the week already. Thanks very much everyone. I will definitely 'get off her case' on this.
Please what do the abbreviations: YABU and UABU mean?

I think children just get this at different stages. DS2 learned the days of the week in nursery at 3 and once he'd learned them, he always knew what day of the week it was (except sometimes in the holidays); DS1 learned them at the same time but didn't have a clue till he was about 6, and still wasn't sure of the months of the year at 7. He's OK now at 11! He also struggled with telling the time beyond the hour and the half, so really don't worry - they get there.

Time is a huge concept with masses of detail. Your DD is well on the way to mastery of a great deal of it if she knows the days of the week, months of the year and tell the time on the hour.

My DD is the same age as yours and is great at "the day before yesterday", "the day after tomorrow" and is obsessive about knowing the date (Monday the 19th of July etc) but is bad at reciting the days of the week/months of the year.

YABU - you are being unreasonable

UABU- you are being unreasonable with a typo because u is next to y and I'm pants at typing.

Also I don't have 6 DD's but I do have 2 dd's who are 6.

My Ds is 6. He seems to have a concept of time when it is about things we have already done. He does not seem to have it with things to be done though. If I say on Friday you go to X for tea he does not know how far Friday is from today and ask. I will tell him and he will ask every day "when is Friday?". I first though it was out of being impatient to go but it seems to really be that the number of days or their name (although he does know the days of the week in the right order)do not mean anything to him.

If I ask her say,'today is Monday,what day will it be in two days time?' she can tell me it will be Wednesday. Anyway,I appreciate the responses as I understand better now.

I don't think my dd's know the order of the days of the week, they're often right but equally they're often wrong.

I deal in "sleeps" too. They get that. (I think).

A little experiment which will give you and her a better understanding of how she views 'immediate' time is to ask her to close her eyes and tell you when she thinks that a minute is up. The timeline suggestion is also a good one.

By Year 2 it's usual for them to be able to tell the hour, half hour and sometimes the quarter hour (usually quarter past with quarter to a bit more of a struggle).

Haha Funtimewitches When I was about 10 and in brownies that "game" was suggested to us

and about a minute after the last one of her had opened her eyes declaring that a minute was up, the minute was up!

us not her

YABU

dd is 8 and still struggles with what day it is, wht day it has been and the concept of time ie half an hour is different from 10 mins etc

she has just about got the hang of half past and oclock but only what it looks like, not what it means IYSWIM??

tbh i use it to my advantage and have long since given up trying to make her learn

she'll get it when she gets it

don't worry

Thanks for the lovely ideas too. Learning through play always beats them all. Thank you.

I have worked in Year 2, 4 and 5 and loads of them struggle with the idea of time both in hours and minutes and the days of the week,

funtime helllloooo! Remember me from last year and the TTC thread??? How are things?

(Sorry to crash the thread!)

Hello, how could I possibly forget . I haven't drunk grapefruit juice since!

(Don't worry, I think that the thread has run its course)

We're fine here, ds2 is now 7 months old and a little porker.

You?

Ha ha funtime me neither! Wow 7 months old, time has flown, how are you coping with 2? My DD2 was 1 last weekend (eek) and is absolutely adorable, unlike her older spoilt rotter of a sister !

Time, Jesus time is haaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrdddddddddddd.

ds 5.11 just finishing yr 1 and still only level 1b/a is actually able to tell the time with o clock, half past and quater past and to.

He knows the days of the week and that its 5 days then the weekend etc and the order. ettin better at the months as well.

However.... he often says yesterday wednesday mornin next week we went to .... and it was fun wasn't it

I do think they just learn it at their own pace and usin sleeps is the best one I've found so far. Or suested to me by another mner 10 minutes is as long a break time or an hour as long as lunch etc.