Any good ideas for introducing AM and PM?

[Lots of boys]

We are working through the unit on time and calendars with my 1st grader in MM 1B. He is doing great with understaning time on clocks and can tell time well (to every 5 min). He seems to understand the calendar stuff too but is really stumped on AM and PM. He understands that a day has 24 hours etc. I showed him a small timeline of his day (i.e. get up at 7AM, eat lunch at 12PM, supper, bed etc.) but then when I ask him questions like " if the clock says 2:00 and if it light outside is it AM or PM ?" He has no idea!

 

Any thoughts on helping him wrap him mind around AM and PM ?

[arghmatey]

Have you told him what the abbreviations mean in Latin? My 6yo was amused by the Latin expressions, and they stuck with her.

[sixpence1978]

We did sort of what you did, but expanded on it slightly. We made a really large timeline that spanned from midnight to midnight. On that we not only marked, but drew pictures that represented what we were doing when. Then we shaded in the timeline yellow for the hours that have sunlight and darkened the line during the night hours. Underneath the timeline (the pictures were above), we marked when AM started and when PM started.

 

From there I continued to point out that we change to PM at noon, but that our sunlight hours were on both sides. We hung the timeline on the wall for quite a while. It seemed to really help my DD, who really learns well with visuals and by applying it to her daily life.

[Ellie]

With a child so young, I'd probably tell him that if it's after midnight and before noon, it's a.m. (and yes, *I* have to write it with the periods, lol), and if it's after noon and before midnight it's p.m., and I'd tell him every time it came up. I'd write that way whenever possible, and I'd use the terms in speaking whenever possible. Eventually he'll get it. I wouldn't spend too much focussed time on it at all, though.