Teaching Time in the Special Education Classroom
Tips for Helping Special Ed Students Understand the Concept of Time
Nov 20, 2008
Time is an abstract concept that can be particularly difficult for special ed students to understand. Learning to tell time and understanding the concept of time are actually different. Students may memorize how to tell time without actually understanding the concept of time. Following are some ideas for teaching this difficult concept.
Create an Activities Schedule
Time is usually introduced to preschoolers as a sequence of events. Preschool teachers usually have a schedule that visually illustrates the child's sequence of activities at school. An example of such a schedule could be:
- Say goodbye to parents
- Place backpacks and lunch boxes in cubbies
- Take a seat at the table
- School Begins
- Art
- Circle Time
- Snacktime
- Playground
- Music
- Nap
- Playtime
- School Ends
Since children at this age do not usually read, teachers use pictures to show sequence of activities. At this early stage, time is only important to a child as it relates to his/her activities.
Understanding Minutes, Hours, Days, Months and Years
Once children are familiar with time as a sequence of events, introduce the concept of how time is measured. An old fashioned hourglass provides an excellent visual representation of how long is a minute. Stopwatches and timers can help measure many minutes. Have the child perform an activity and time him. Relate favorite activities to the amount of time it takes to accomplish them.
Use Index Cards to Teach Different Time Relationships
Make index cards that show how many minutes in an hour, hours in a day, days in a month and months in a year. Keep them in a visible place so students can refer to them when needed. These index cards can also be used to play matching games where students have to identify the correct answer.
At this point begin teaching how to tell time by using a Judy clock. Using a Judy clock that has each minute marked is an important visual aid that enables students to actually see how minutes and hours are related.
Calendar
Hang a monthly calendar on the wall and refer to it at the beginning of each school day so students become familiar with how it shows the relationships between days, weeks, months and years. The calendar is a great visual aid since it can physically show how 7 days make 1 week, 4 weeks a month, 30 days a month and 12 months a year. Even if they might not fully comprehend how to use it they need to be familiar with it.
Teachers can encourage parents to also keep track of the days in a calendar at home. The calendar can also help in understanding what is meant by tomorrow, today and yesterday.
Time Concepts in Books
Read books that help explain the concept of time. For example, read The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle [Harper Collins, 1977] and What Time is it Mr. Crocodile? by Judy Sierra [Harcourt, 2004] with students. Both these books are fun and entertaining to read.
Many children with developmental delays, especially autistic children, need schedules and benefit from them. Knowing how much time is left for their favorite activity or when there is school and when not, helps them organize themselves. Many tantrums can be avoided once they feel they have some control over when and how things happen, which is another reason why it is important that they are able to understand the concept of time.
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