Introducing History and Passage of Time in a Montessori Preschool: The Calendar

Teaching history in a Montessori preschool/kindergarten classroom means helping children understand the passage of time.  It is a difficult concept for little ones to grasp, but there are many interesting ways we can explore the passage of time in a Montessori environment. One of the best ways to begin the introduction to time and history is to work with The Calendar.

Introducing History and Passage of Time in a Montessori Preschool, Part 1: The Calendar

The Calendar and the Days of the Week

The calendar is part of our daily routine during circle time ... discussing the month, placing the number on the calendar and talking about the weather.  In my Montessori classroom, we begin each day by singing the days of the week song and we do so in both French and English (sung to the tune Oh My Darlin’ Clementine.)

English version:
There are seven days, There are seven days, There are seven days in a week,
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday, Friday, Saturday

French version:
Il y a sept jours, Il y a sept jours, Il y a sept jours dans une semaine,
dimanche, lundi, mardi, mercredi
jeudi, vendredi, samedi

After singing both versions of the days of the week song, I draw the children’s attention to the calendar and we discuss the month, the day of the week and also the year.

Then we discuss the terms ‘today’, ‘tomorrow’ and ‘yesterday’. I ask the children to raise their hand if they know what day of the week it will be tomorrow and what day of the week it was yesterday. It takes awhile to get this concept at the beginning of the year, but eventually, it begins to makes sense to them. In part 2, we will look at the way we learn about the seasons in our Montessori preschool classroom.

Bree — NAMC Tutor & Graduate

As much as possible, NAMC’s web blog reflects the Montessori curriculum as provided in its teacher training programs. We realize and respect that Montessori schools are unique and may vary their schedules and offerings in accordance with the needs of their individual communities. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Thursday, January 13, 2011.