Time sensitive books for young children

Do you have the time? When clocks fall back or spring forward to accommodate Daylight Savings Time, second guessing our internal clocks is common.

To a young child, time can be even more elusive. Though adults may envy children’s ability to live in the moment, young children struggle to understand concepts of future and past.

If you’ve ever explained time to a young child by saying something like “Only seven more sleeps until your birthday!” consider yourself brilliant. You’ve helped your child link the abstract concept of future to their familiar concrete experiences of day and night. Time is a mathematical concept. It is understood though patterns such as morning, noon, and night, as well as seasons. It is defined through measurement and numbers. We measure, for example, one minute as 60 seconds and define one decade as the span of ten years. Numbers describe time in an especially poignant way when, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, concepts of past, present and future merge in our thoughts and emotions.

Creating opportunities for young children to understand time in increasing complex ways doesn’t happen all at once. Sharing books with children can extend their ability to relate to concepts of time. Reading aloud and talking about stories in which time is central to the plot help children develop the awareness and knowledge of patterns, numbers and measurement needed to understand time.

Children as young a toddlers learn about the patterns of time through playful books such as Hey! Wake Up! and Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton.

Children discover numbers and measurement in 10 Minutes till Bedtime by Peggy Rathburn. Detailed and humorous illustrations show the antics of a young child (and his toys) with much to-do before his dad tucks him into bed with a goodnight kiss.

Preschoolers learn about patterns of the moon as it waxes and wanes each night through the gentle, well-crafted story of Papa Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle.

They learn about minutes through Jill Murphy’s book entitled Five Minutes Peace. In this story Mrs Large, a mother elephant, seeks five minutes of solitude. She succeeds at finding three minutes and 45 seconds for rest and renewal.

Older preschoolers and primary school-age children discover more scientific explanations of time through books that clearly link the measurements of time with patterns in nature. Non-fiction books such as Sunshine Makes the Seasons by Franklyn Branley, is just one example of books that your librarian or bookseller may recommend.

The patterns, measurement and numbers of time are part of children’s lives every day. Sharing books and talking about time help children discover and understand how; when we take the time.

Susan Ramsay is the Early Literacy Specialist for Hastings, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington. You can contact her at 613-354-6318 (ext 32) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.