Telling the time

Mom, “are we there yet?”is a question that pops up in the car million times,whenever I tell them that we are around 10 more minutes from the destination! Or another instance is that they will start playing,when i say that we’re leaving “in a few minutes“.

When my 3-year-old is persistent about going to the park, telling her, "We will go to the park at 4 p.m.," I always see the confusion in her eyes.She would understand that 'both of us would go to the park but not right now'; but wouldn't have a clue about what 4 p.m. means.

It’s because young kids have a very limited concept of time.

WHAT IS TIME?

Time is the ongoing and continuous sequence of events that occur in succession, from the past through the present to the future. Time is used to quantify, measure or compare the duration of events or the intervals between them, and even, sequence events.

THE CONCEPT OF TIME

The concept of time varies on age.

1.INFANTS AND TODDLERS:(0-2 YEARS)

• For babies and young toddlers, you can just about forget about the concept of time. They live so much in the present moment, every moment to them is new and fresh. This is why kids can be crying one minute and laughing the next.

• Infants as young as 6 months old are able to tell the difference between two distinct duration of time.
  

2.PRESCHOOLERS :(3-5 YEARS)