socody Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I am having a hard time getting my 4-year-old to understand the concepts of "yesterday" "tomorrow" "last week" "next month", etc. Anyone have any clever ways of teaching all this or is it just something she'll get in a year or so? She can memorize the days of the week but that doesn't mean much to her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommie_Jen Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 My almost 6 year old has trouble with the difference between yesterday and last week. Before and after are good concepts to start with, then you can go with the fact that yesterday is before today, etc. We have songs for days of the week and months of the years that we practice. At 4, just keep doing what you're doing. You could google for songs to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Not exactly what you're asking, but one thing that really helped my kids at that age was making a giant timeline of our year with all the things that get repeated for us - camping time, beach time, apple picking time, etc. along with holidays and birthdays and other time markers. They just really struggled to understand that stuff and having a big reference that we'd colored together really helped. This is what it looked like. I took pictures before it came down... and even that was awhile ago now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Honestly, I just kept using them in everyday speech, and eventually they caught on. My middle son took a bit longer to get the concept, but he understands it now no problem. I think a year ago (when he was a new 5), he would still say "yesterday tomorrow", which I think meant last week... :lol: Really, I wouldn't worry about it at 4. Just continue to model their use, point to a calendar on the wall now and then, etc. My kids love seeing when something fun is going to happen on the calendar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lattedrinker Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I agree that it's normal at this age. I just clarify and say "actually, sweetie, we did that last week. yesterday, we ...." At some point, they figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 This is what it looked like. I took pictures before it came down... and even that was awhile ago now. Very nice! Is that pi day in the spring? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabelneri Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Generally kids don't get a strong sense of time until they're 6 or 7. We do some time-dependent activities in our Montessori-based religious ed program with the 6-9yos, and we decide if they're ready by asking them how old they are, followed up by "How long did it take you to get that old?" The ones who haven't developed a sense of historical time will have really funny responses, while the ones who have will look at us like we're crazy, and answer correctly. Usually between 6 & 7 the concept "clicks". When it comes to closer-to-today time they sometimes start to get pretty good at that at younger ages, but it depends on the kid. My 4.5yo says it took her about 3 years to get to be 4.5yrs, but she does pretty well identifying yesterday and the day before that (she calls yesterday, "the day before this day", and the day before that is "the day before the day before this day"). She can also do "the day after this day" pretty accurately, but beyond that she gets lost. At the same time, her 5.5yo friend can't identify things that happened yesterday accurately. But she'll get it one of these days. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 It's cute because the first step is often to refer to any time before they woke up this morning as yesterday as in, "Remember yesterday, when it was Christmas?" It's easier for some kids to get the hang of tomorrow. Tomorrow is after you sleep for the night and then wake up when the sun shines. Three more days is three more sleeps. My 4 yo has the future down cold and can even count down days until an event. But the past is all yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 My dd hasn't caught on yet, either. Everything that happened in the past is "last year." :p Anything that will happen in the future is "tomorrow." What gets me confused is when she wakes up in the morning and says, "Mommy, is it tomorrow?" I'm like, "Yes! Well, no, it's today now, but from our perspective yesterday, today would be tomorrow... ah crap." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Very nice! Is that pi day in the spring? :) Yes. I know it sounds odd, but my kids demanded that be on there at age 3. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystie Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Honestly, I just kept using them in everyday speech, and eventually they caught on. My middle son took a bit longer to get the concept, but he understands it now no problem. I think a year ago (when he was a new 5), he would still say "yesterday tomorrow", which I think meant last week... :lol: Really, I wouldn't worry about it at 4. Just continue to model their use, point to a calendar on the wall now and then, etc. My kids love seeing when something fun is going to happen on the calendar. :iagree: My smart 5yo still sometimes messes them up or doesn't know which word to use or asks me to clarify. My others did, too. Just use them in everyday talking and she'll catch on just like she has with all other vocabulary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromA2Z Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 My dd hasn't caught on yet, either. Everything that happened in the past is "last year." :p Anything that will happen in the future is "tomorrow." What gets me confused is when she wakes up in the morning and says, "Mommy, is it tomorrow?" I'm like, "Yes! Well, no, it's today now, but from our perspective yesterday, today would be tomorrow... ah crap." ...yes today was yesterday's tomorrow. Got it? Does your child know the days of the week? If so i saw this chart with the days of the week listed across the top with a box under each day. The person made up three cards with the words today yesterday and tomorrow. Each day the child would move the cards to their new spots (they used Velcro). So on Monday you would say and point to" today is Monday, yesterday was Sunday and tomorrow is Tuesday. I believe there was a night scene picture in between the days to emphasize that night changes what day it is. It's just a visual indicator of how the words relate to each other and how they "move". I hope that was clear enough. I don't remember where I saw it and I don't know we'll it works. I've been meaning to make such a chart but haven't gotten around to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socody Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 ...yes today was yesterday's tomorrow. Got it? Does your child know the days of the week? If so i saw this chart with the days of the week listed across the top with a box under each day. The person made up three cards with the words today yesterday and tomorrow. Each day the child would move the cards to their new spots (they used Velcro). So on Monday you would say and point to" today is Monday, yesterday was Sunday and tomorrow is Tuesday. I believe there was a night scene picture in between the days to emphasize that night changes what day it is. It's just a visual indicator of how the words relate to each other and how they "move". I hope that was clear enough. I don't remember where I saw it and I don't know we'll it works. I've been meaning to make such a chart but haven't gotten around to it. Is this what you're talking about? http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/04/calendar-time-2.html We did that one for a little while but "retired" it for a little bit before it got old & repetitive. We may get it back out again, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 We've used this calendar for 5 years or so. My kids still like to update it each month (we used to do it at breakfast every day) but they all understand the concepts of today, tomorrow, and yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakpak Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 The rule in our house is that my DD3.5 is never allowed to grow any 'today', but she's only allowed to 'tomorrow'. Haha, this may confuse the heck out of her, but she thinks it's a riot and insists she's growing today anyway. We have pretend arguments about her not growing. I'm afraid I always lose... *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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