The older the child is, the more questions he/she asks. The child is being interested not only in the surrounding objects but also in abstract notions such as seasons and months. Not every parent can explain why it’s hot in summer and it’s cold in winter, what is June, July, etc.
Different methods and techniques can be used to remember this and to explain this:
- games and associations;
- tales and poems;
- riddles and books;
- posters and cards;
- cartoons and presentations.
The article will tell how to teach your son or daughter to recognize the seasons.
When to start
For effective learning, it’s recommended to teach a child from 4-4. 5 years. By 5 years the child should know months and seasons of the year.
During this time the child has observed the changes of seasons for several times and he/she has an idea what cold, heat, rain, snow is.
Where to start
You should start learning by using colorful pictures, where the weather and season activities can be clearly seen.
- Winter – it’s snow, New year, Santa Claus and gifts under the Christmas tree, the smell of tangerines, snowballs, snowmen and sledges, warm jackets, hats and mittens, skating.
- Spring is associated with the melting of snow, with the flowers and leaves on the trees, with Easter eggs and cakes;
- Summer is the sun, the sea, the river or the lake, all green and colored, butterflies on flowers, a t-shirt, shorts or a dress, skating or cycling, long walks on the street, chalk drawings on asphalt.
- Autumn – it’s time to harvest, the leaves turn yellow, orange, red, then fall off, there’s first ice on the puddles, etc.
As an example, you can use the drawings which you can show to the child.
Ask correct questions
Take four sheets of paper of different colors. Ask your child what color would he/she use to denote different seasons. Based on this, ask questions which will help to describe each season:
- How the sun shines?
- Is there any precipitation and of what kind is it?
- What happen to the leaves?
- What do adults do?
- What clothes they wear?
- How do animals and birds behave?
- How do children spend their free time?
Answers to questions are accompanied with thematic cards or use a book to show a good example.
Learn by playing
You can buy a lotto, the cards, posters and, describe to the child what is happening at what time, by playing.
Then play pantomime (expression without words, using body language only) or make riddles to fix the knowledge.
You can ask your child to draw on the 3D the Board his/her assosiations with every season. Or you are drawing and your child tries to guess what time of year is depicted in the picture. On such a board the drawn pictures “come to life” and it’s more interesting to children to look at them. Click the link to order a 3D Board with 50% discount.
Games with clothes
Use clothes for different seasons and ask your child to dress up for a walk at a certain period of the year.
Method of observation
Choose an object outside the window together with your child (it can be a tree or a flower) and watch how it changes depending on the weather. Let your child describe what is happening to the object of observation, and must write it. It’s better to take pictures to see the changes visually.
Create a family photo calendar to make it easier for your child to associate not only the seasons but also the months. Photos must be taken at different periods of the year in order the child could be able to distinguish them.
Find the extra word
- Flowers, grass, sun, snowflakes, butterflies.
- Snow, skates, snowman, flower, Santa Claus, snowflake.
Invent other variants.
Rhymes
Seasons
Spring is green,
Summer is bright.
Autumn is yellow,
Winter is white.
Winter
It’s snowing, It’s snowing.
What a lot of snow!
Let us make some snowballs
We all like to throw.
It’s snowing, it’s snowing.
Let us sledge and ski!
When I’m dashing downhill
Clear the way for me!
About spring
Spring is coming,
Spring is coming,
Flowers are coming too.
Snowdrops, lilies, daffodils
Now are coming too.
About summer
This is the season when nights are short.
And children have plenty of fun and sport.
Boating and swimming all day long
Will make us healthy and strong.
Autumn.
Yellow, red and green and brown,
See, the little leaves come down.
Dancing, dancing in the breeze,
Falling, falling from the trees
To distinguish months will help a fairy tale “12 months” a rhyme:
Twelve month
January brings the snow,
Makes our feet and fingers glow.
February snows again
And sometimes it brings us rain.
March brings sunny days and winds
So we know that spring begins.
April brings the primrose sweet,
We see daisies at our feet.
May brings flowers, joy and grass
And the holidays for us.
June brings tulips, lilies, roses.
Fills the children’s hands with posies.
Hot July brings apples and cherries
And a lot of other berries.
August brings us golden corn,
Then the harvest home is born.
Warm September brings us school,
Days are shorter, nights are cool.
Fresh October brings much fruit
Then to gather them is good.
Red November brings us joy,
Fun for every girl and boy.
Cold December brings us skating,
For the New Year we are waiting.
Songs
Songs about winter
Songs about spring
Summer songs
Autumn songs
Watch educational cartoons together with your child:
- “Lessons of aunt Owl”;
- “Shonny Train”;
- “Malyshariki”;
- “Kikoriki” and so on.
Riddles
* * *
This is the season when fruit is sweet,
This is the season when school-friends meet.
(Autumn)
* * *
This is the season when vegetables grow,
I come to the garden and make water flow.
(Summer)
* * *
I come with cold and snow.
But you like me and know.
(Winter)
* * *
Blue sky is seen,
The trees are green.
The world looks new and gay,
Because grey winter’s gone away.
(Spring)
* * *
It is hot or warm.
The days are long and the nights are short.
There are many green trees and nice flowers in the parks and in the squares.
The pupils don’t go to school, they have got their summer holidays.
(Summer)
* * *
There’s mist in the garden,
The summer is over.
The trees are bare
And frost in the air.(Autumn)
* * *
The wind is blowing,
The snow is falling.
When all is white,
Short day and long night. (Winter)
Learning months
All 12 months are divided into 4 seasons which the child should already know. The child should memorize their names. It’s easier to do this by using associations.
For example: December – New year, Santa Claus, gifts; March – All women’s day, willow blossoms, first snowdrops, etc.
Remember the number of the days in one month
Use your hands to distinguish the number of days in a month quickly and correctly.
“Bone” rule:
- You must clench your hands into fists and look at the bones.
- The first bone of the little finger is January, hollow after bone is February, etc.
- A month which denotes a bone has 31 days; month “in a hollow” has 30 days (except February-28/29 days).
Learn the seasons in English
- Make game cards. They should describe the season and its name in English.
- Create a calendar of associations in English. Add creativity to the process: draw, make applications and crafts.
We recommend you to watch this video to learn the seasons in English:
What should know
- Don’t start learning when the child is sleepy or in a bad mood.
- Learning any material, make the child to memorize. Let him/her to tell you what he/she remembers about each season. So it will be easier for him/her to orientate. Go to the months gradually.
- Watch cartoons together with children, ask questions, answer their questions.
- Buy the required literature: S. Berner “Town”, V. Bianki “A bird’s calendar,” V. Svechnikov “Seasons. Illustrated encyclopedia”, S. Marshak “All year round”.
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