From the author: The article was written in co-authorship with Valeria Laurent (part-time teacher, English teacher at school). We work in the same center for integrated development "Assistance". The article is posted on the website of the center "Assistance" and was posted in other sources. The importance of rhythm. Time, as we know, is an abstract concept, so it is difficult to learn to understand at an early age. Psychologists have found that the child’s concept of time is formed in the womb. But time in children forms spatio-temporal orientation, biorhythm. All newborns need a rhythm: a feeding schedule, the change of day and night, rocking, as well as everything rhythmic that the child perceives by ear, for example songs, rhymes, etc. In addition, babies create a rhythm for themselves - they suck their thumbs, shake their heads. Rhythm for young children is the basis of balance, which is necessary for the baby’s nervous calm. Many parents worry that their child will soon go to school, but does not yet understand or realize the specific time. Until the age of seven, a child simply cannot understand abstract time. Children will never say: “That was last June,” but will say: “That was when I was at the dacha.” This is due to the fact that the gradation of time in their consciousness is different from that of an adult; there is only a direct connection with events already experienced or being experienced at a given moment in time; even the future is difficult for children to differentiate. They have a past - events have already happened, a future - will happen someday, and there is a very voluminous and understandable present! Children live in the moment, which is something we adults need to re-learn sometimes! So what should a child under seven years of age understand? The first step in understanding events is the concept of seasons, months and days of the week. Let's lay the first bricks of abstract thinking in a preschooler! Where to begin? Time has two properties: the first is cyclicality, everything returns to normal, for this you can use a watch with a round dial. Understanding time using a round dial will help you better understand fractions and parts in the future, and will also give a more clear meaning to the words: “past”, “future” and “present”. The second property of time is non-repetition, which can be understood with the help of an electronic clock, because on this clock we see only “now”! It is useful for a child to know about all the properties of time, which means to have an idea not only of ordinary, but also of electronic watches. First, the preschooler needs to explain the basic, basic concepts of time. To do this, you can do some exercises with your child. For example, talk to him about his age, how old he was two years ago, how old he will be in five years, etc. Discuss with your child his skills before, now and in the future. It is very important to introduce your child to concepts such as minute, second, hour. This is better done using a game, for example, what can you do in a second? Clap your hands or hit the ball. Then talk to him about what can be done in a minute, in an hour, in a day. Where to start teaching your child to tell time? When explaining to a child the sequence of events, it is not at all necessary and not even necessary to say where on the clock, which hand is, and what it means. He is not yet ready to perceive this complex information, because... he just doesn't need her. Remember we talked about rhythm? To reinforce this idea, draw the baby’s attention to any sequence of events (rhythm), for example, in fairy tales - first the mother baked pies, then she sent Little Red Riding Hood to her grandmother, then Little Red Riding Hood met the Gray Wolf... Before you start teaching your baby to use a calendar, tell him what a day, a week, a month, a year is, you need to get acquainted with the concepts of “first”, “then”, “now”, “before”, “after”, “soon” and others associated with the passage of time. When communicating with your child during the day, playing, studying with him, comment on your actions with words. In the future tense: first we will wash ourselves, thenWe’ll have breakfast, first we need to clear the game from the table, and then we’ll sit down to dinner, then you’ll draw. To familiarize yourself with these concepts, you can also use pictures depicting any sequential actions or phenomena: the growth and development of a plant or animal; sequential actions to manufacture something (first they build the foundation, then the first floor and all subsequent ones, then the roof). Look at the pictures, tell your child what is drawn, then ask him to tell you. After reading fairy tales with your child, act them out using toys, making sure that the child does not confuse the order of action. Buy thin books with simple fairy tales, cut out the illustrations and paste them onto cardboard. They can be used to act out a fairy tale. Determine the seasons. The next step is to develop your child's understanding of the seasons. It is necessary not only to explain to him that there are 12 months and 4 seasons, but also to clearly explain to him the changes that occur with the weather and nature in autumn, summer, winter and spring. To do this, go outside, observe, show your child what is happening with the trees, sky, grass, and what people are wearing. You can take photographs of this or that corner of the street at different times of the year or even every month and compare them with each other. It is also recommended to read the fairy tale “The Twelve Months” by S. Marshak and “The Titmouse Calendar” by V. Bianchi. Buy a tear-off calendar, where each sheet represents one day. Also, when starting to study with your baby, it is more convenient to use a calendar on which the whole year is located on one page. Then he will be able to clearly see the whole year and separately the months and days. Remember that nothing should distract the child from the information he needs, so cut off or cover up all distracting pictures. Look at your calendar and how it displays days, weeks and months - there are a lot of days. Every morning, say what day of the week it is, what day, what month. You can additionally write all this in letters and numbers from the magnetic alphabet directly on the refrigerator. Say that the day that has come, in addition to its “name,” also has the name “today.” And the day that ended is called “yesterday”, etc. And the day that will come is still called “tomorrow”. After a while you will tell us what the day before yesterday and the day after tomorrow are. Of course, the child will not immediately remember everything that you tell him, but if you devote 5 minutes to it every day, follow the rhythm and sequence of transferring useful information and present it in a playful way, then the child will remember and will be able to use new skills faster. Try to return to the subjects and skills you are studying throughout the day, look for examples of what you are telling your child in everyday life, nature, fairy tales, and cartoons. This way, the baby will develop cause-and-effect thinking faster, chains of events and their sequence will be built. My first watch. Now you can start introducing your child to watches. A large toy clock with easily moving hands and clear, large numbers is best suited for this. To begin with, tell your child that there are two hands on the clock: a short one (hour) - it moves slowly, and a long one (minute) - it moves along the dial much faster. You can draw a poster with a large clock indicating a specific hour and an event in the child’s life that corresponds to this event. Five events repeating at the same time will be enough. To begin with, they can be defined as “before lunch”, “after a quiet hour”, “after dinner”, gradually linking the event to the position of the hand on the clock. When the child gets comfortable with the hour hand, you can begin to get acquainted with the minute hand: events (again, repeating every day at a certain time) and images of clocks with both hour and minute hands will be added to our poster. Don’t forget to ask your child what time he goes to kindergarten, what time he goes to bed, etc./