Hi, all.
Recently, my sister said about my 3 year old niece, "She always asks me what time it is. Or what day. Like she has somewhere to be."
I heard a similar comment from some parents during my spring parent teacher conferences.
I often hear young children use the words "yesterday" and "tomorrow" to mean "some time in the past," and "some time that has not happened yet." Often they use those words incorrectly.
Understanding time is hard for very young children. I would even say that many 2-3 year old children are not developmentally ready to understand the systems of the hours in the day, the days of the week, the months of the year, etc.
Because time is complex. And grown ups are constantly using words like "soon," "in five minutes," "next week," or "nine o'clock."
And so, children start to look for patterns, and to work to make sense of these time related words that they hear around them. And even though they are not responsible for being places at certain times (that is their care giver's job), they ask about the time.
I had one particular student this year, who walked in each day of the week, and asked, "Is it Shabbat today?" I teach in a Jewish school, and at the end of each week, we celebrate Shabbat (Sabbath) together. We light candles, drink grape juice, eat challah, and sing some blessings. It's a grand 'ole time. It's special. It's tradition. It's delicious. It's so wonderful, that one child asked about it everyday.
And every day we looked at our schedule to see if it was Shabbat.
And that was the inspiration behind this book. This book does not include photos for privacy purposes, but here are all the pages. Pages that reinforce the days of the week. Pages that review our daily schedule. Pages with some more letters and words thrown in for the children who are ready.
With the use of patterns and photos, the children can read this book on their own.
Of course, every child has their own schedule, and this book can be customized for your petite, special someone. Visit the shop to view other versions of this books, and to order your very own.