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How to Teach Months of the Year

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January through December, the names of the months are important for children to learn.

Teaching months of the year is a snap with these fun months of the year activities!

How to Teach Months of the Year

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Teaching Months of the Year

The months of the year are how we divide up our year. 

Like the days of the week, the months of the year are a foundational learning concept. 

They are the gateway to learning about the seasons, holidays, birthdays, and dates.

When to Teach Months of the Year

You should begin to teach the months of the year in preschool and Kindergarten. 

Typically young children would learn to recite the months in preschool, and they would learn to read and write them in Kindergarten.

How to Teach the Months of the Year

The names of the months come to us from Latin. 

Some are difficult to say and spell, so you need a bag of tricks to make these important names stick.

Thankfully, there is a host of fun and memorable ways to teach the months of the year.

With young preschoolers, focus on learning the names of the months in order. 

Songs, rhymes, movement, and visual displays are keys to making this foundational concept stick.

With Kindergartners, work on learning the months so the student can tell you the date and read/write the name of the month. 

Use engaging readers and picture books, tracing, copy work, and wall calendars to practice these skills.  

How to Teach Months of the Year

Fun Months of the Year Activities

Learning the months of the year doesn’t have to be dull–make it enjoyable with these fun months of the year activities.

Songs

Piggyback off the traditional nursery rhyme tunes.  Sing this one to the tune of “Twelve Little Indians”

January, February, March, April

May, June, July, August

September, October, November, December

These are the months of the year.

This popular song by The Learning Station works well with the littlest learners because the song is call-and-response style.

Movement

This song by Jack Hartman not only reviews the months of the year, but it gets kids exercising!

Why not take a movement break and review a concept in one fell swoop?

How to Teach Months of the Year

Poems

This classic poem (it goes back to the 1500s!) drills the number of days in each month.

Thirty days has September,

April, June, and November,

All the rest have 31,

Excepting February alone,

Which has 28 days clear,

And 29 in each Leap Year.

Here is a modern poem that just reviews the names of the months:

January, February, March, April, May,

June, July, August, Hip Hip Hooray!

September, October, November, December

See all the months that I can remember!

Though not a poem that helps one learn the names of the months, A Child’s Calendar by John Updike has a beautiful poem for each month of the year. 

Why not introduce children to the beauty of poetry while teaching about each of the months?

Calendar

Keep an interactive magnetic daily calendar on the wall to bring together days of the week, months of the year, seasons, dates, and weather. 

Consider also devoting space in your room (hang up a poster or decorate a bulletin board) where you list all the months of the year in order.

How to Teach Months of the Year

Books

From simple board books to storybooks, reading time can reinforce learning the months of the year.

Hap-Pea All Year by Keith Baker

This book contains only the names of the months and delightful and energetic peas. Yes, you read that right!

Oscar the Octopus by Matthew Van Fleet

This touch-and-feel book uses sea creatures to teach about the months of the year.

A Busy Year by Leo Lionni

These busy mice check the progress of a tree each month of the year.

Santa’s Eleven Months Off by Mike Reiss

How does Santa spend the other 11 months of the year? Laugh your way through the months!

How to Teach Months of the Year

Teaching Months of the Year to Young Children

The months of the year are everywhere, so build a solid foundation of learning for your kids.

These simple and fun activities will make learning the months as easy as 1-2-3.

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