Explain to a child the passage of time It can be a very complicated task, especially when you are waiting for an important event such as the arrival of a little brother, his birthday, the return to school or the arrival of the Magi, for example.
Resorting to a Montessori-inspired wooden calendar can be an excellent solution since the child can manipulate the pieces and understand very visually through colors and figures how time goes by. We tell you how it works and what benefits it has for the little ones!
Understand the passage of time
Pregnant with my second daughter I found it really difficult to explain to my older child, four years old then, when would your sister be born. We were marking milestones in the calendar that approximated the date of delivery, but the concept of "time" in children is very different from that we have adults and pregnancy became eternal, increasing at times their levels of anxiety.
That's why when Silvia Roldan, an ecological wooden toy craftswoman and owner of the Aserrín Aserrán workshop, told me about the Montessori inspired calendarsI thought it was a beautiful idea to make children understand the passage of time and the coming events.
Via The Sawdust Aserran Workshop How does a Montessori calendar work?
We can make a manipulative calendar of Waldorf-Montessori inspiration at home, or use the calendars they sell in specialized stores, such as Sawdust Sawmill Workshop, made of wood and painted by hand.
Silvia, its owner, tells us how this works manipulative calendar with circular shape (which represents the sun) and how children should use it to understand visually and very practically the passing of time.
Imagine a round cake divided into 12 portions; Well, this will be our calendar: a circle divided into 12 parts of colors that represent the 12 months of the year. In the outermost ring there are 31 small holes where we will insert balls of seven different colors, which represent the days of the week.
When a new month begins, we will insert the ball of the day of the week in which we are in the first hole of the corresponding month, and each day we will place a new ball until we have completed the whole circle, symbolizing a month that ends. And we will repeat the operation with the following month.
The colors that we will use for the months of the year will be based on the Goethe scale and will range from the dark blue that symbolizes the month of January, to the purple color that symbolizes the month of December. In this way, and according to this color scale, winter will be represented by blue and violet colors, spring by green colors, summer by yellows and oranges and autumn by reds.
Equally, each day of the week will have a different color so that we will have seven balls, each of a color, that will repeat sequence in the outer circle ring at the end of the week.
Too we can rely on wooden figurines to help the child identify the month he is in. Silvia proposes some like the snowman to symbolize the month of January, the flower for the month of May, the boat for the month of August or the fir for December.
Via The Sawdust Aserran Workshop Significant iconography for important dates
Once the children have assimilated the passing of the days, weeks, months and seasons of the year, it will be easier for them to understand when a certain important event will take place for them.Silvia advises us help us from nature materials -like, for example, stones- that children can transform by painting, drawing or writing about them the expected event. Or we can also use wooden figures for sale in specialized stores, which serve to complete our Montessori calendar.
Photo via Aserrín Aserrán Workshop What can the Montessori calendar help us with?
Once the child has learned to use the Montessori calendar, he will acquire the habit and routine of placing a new ball for each day that passes and actively checking how the event you expect is approaching. The use of this type of such visual and manipulative calendars It can serve, for example:
To wait for the arrival of a brother
In cases of divorce in which the child goes through several houses (father, mother, grandparents or relatives of one branch and another ...)
Back to school or start vacation
Arrival of Christmas and the Magi
Your birthday or someone's birthday very special
A school trip or family trip
Other events that even being more everyday, the child is a special joy, such as eating at his grandparents' house, going to the movies, doing an extracurricular ...
More information about Montessori pedagogy
If you want to know more about the Montessori pedagogy You can read these other articles where we give you more clues about this educational method that helps to enhance the natural ability of children to learn through play, exploration, manipulation and free movement.
The Montessori learning method becomes fashionable thanks to Prince George. What is it and how do I know if it suits my son?
Alternative education: what options do you have if you want a different school for your children
Let them be autonomous: the Montessori-inspired table to find out what tasks they can do at each age
Back to school: this is a Montessori classroom
Pictures The Sawdust Workshop Aserrán
In Babies and More Nine Montessori keys to apply in the education of your children, How to prepare your child for the arrival of the new baby
