To stress there are big gaps in five year old DS’s knowledge?

[cheeriton]

I do worry about this. He doesn’t know the days of the week - he knows Monday, Sunday etc but not in consecutive order and same with months of the year.

is this normal or is he really behind?

Yeah this is what baffles me; he knows the planets in order from the sun but not the months of the year, I mean - ? 😂

Honestly it doesn’t matter if he can’t read. He’ll take it in, pointing out the days of the week, mentioning the month.
Speak to his teacher about it, see if he can access resource lessons, he’s still very young and from my experiences with boys, they like to learn what they’re interested in and not much else.
A globe is a good idea too, or a large world map.

Barney the dinosaur Days of the Week song!
And get a slate and chalk...every day write the day and date and weather! My teachers in primary school did that.

My son is autistic @cheeriton (not suggesting your son is) but he has an amazing memory and is an information junkie so he just loved watching science videos and geography stuff and took it all it.

His knowledge all evened out - very normal to have pockets of knowledge at that age.

Just to reassure you. I don’t think mine were very advanced in reception but they catch up, sometimes they need a little bit more attention and practise.
My DS has ASD, he knew planets, every dinosaur detail, great with numbers but took years to read and he still hates handwriting. It drives him insane x he likes to do what interests him.

Read him the Very Hungry Caterpillar

I wouldn’t worry. I think my 5 (today!) year old is super bright and then she will surprised me by interchanging tall and years, yet this morning she asked if nails are made of bone and we had an in depth discussion about it. Things like days of the week we don’t really teach they just eventually get absorbed

Most of my Y1 class are still getting to grips with this. Don’t stress, heat not behind!

To be fair, this doesn't surprise me. The solar system is fascinating, while the months of the year and the days of the week are quite boring and useless for a 5 yo 😅 In year 1 they will start writing/using those every day and it'll become a habit. I wouldn't worry.

We used to recite the months of the year with my son until he was at least 10. I think I gave up after that. Hes 30 now and I honestly wonder if he knows them now. He holds down an excellent job and has bought his own house so it hasn't held him back.

Its funny how they can not learn basic things like this but will learn things like every characters name in spongebob.
I would be more concerned with his ability to learn ratger than what he is choosing to retain.
My 8 year old doesnt know all the months in order, he does but can't be bothered to remember them in order. But he can do complex maths for his age and he knows loads about science.
I think ability to learn and understand the world and what someone chooses to retain as information by rote learning are different things.
Days of the week arent particuarly relevant to a 5 year old as their week is managed for them, so quite abstract. If you want him to learn them then you have to give him reason, make a chart with things he does on each dayand stick it to the wall in his room, thrn ask him to find the day each morning and tell you what he is doing that day.

That sounds like some of my colleagues!

Thanks. We’ve definitely listened to songs, read the very hungry caterpillar (ds is a bit nonplussed by it but it is his sisters current favourite book; ds is more of an Oi Frog and Paddington kid.) It just doesn’t go in.

Mine got to the end of primary and I realised they were still wobbly on months of the year in order as they never paid them any attention.

Your DC won’t know unless they’ve been taught. We did this over the summer holidays between nursery and reception with one of the magnetic calendars, changing the number and day every day and counting down to September. It took a long time for the months to come together and she still gets a bit muddled occasionally, but she’ll remember with clues such as “Halloween month”, “Christmas month” and months of family birthdays. The start of the calendar year and the school year not being the same is totally confusing still, as the concepts of cumulative years is a reach. E.g. “Why am I younger than daddy when my birthday is before his”.

Suprised at all the posters saying this is normal, mine learned the days of the week and months in childcare around 3

Right, so they were taught it at childcare. Others weren’t? What about that is surprising? There’s no national curriculum for 3 year olds that involves learning days of the week.

My daughter is 4 and can recite the days of the week from a song but can’t integrate it yet into fully understanding what days come when. She can read quite well but they haven’t learned it written down yet (not surprise, Wednesday would be pretty confusing…). She could recite the alphabet at 2 but that doesn’t mean she actually understood what letter is what.

Just like anything else, they will learn what they are taught and will learn more easily what they are interested in and pay attention to.

My dgs is in reception and has no idea of the months except his birthday month, and his grasp of the days of the week is minimal....but he can tell you complex facts about animals and dinosaurs! It's perfectly normal and he will gradually learn it over time!