Teaching the concept of time

Visual timers are perfect for teaching the passing of time. Make sure you are constantly reinforcing the concept of time moving as you might say” Look at the timer, you have 5 more mins to play”. By keeping a watchful sense of time it will carry over and be seen visually as the visual timer pie gets smaller. I like to explain time as a whole pizza and as time goes by it gets hungry just like our bodies do. The red pizza pie on the timer gets smaller and smaller as “time gets eaten up”. Time is such an abstract concept and hard to teach but, using a visual schedule or timer can help make this process smooth as transitions are made. No knowing if today is the last time you would ever get to play with a toy or do a fun activity can cause frustration and confusion. Many times problem behavior arises when you stop doing a desired activity. Ever wonder why that is? In most cases if you didn’t know when you would get the chance to eat again you might get very worried and start to have extreme anxiety, it may not be that the child over indulges to keep eating but that there is no clear ending to the task and beginning. That is why routines are comforting to those on the spectrum. The repetitive nature is a cycle that comes full circle once again. As a parent or educator we must break the cycle. Don’t be afraid to switch things up and make “life happen” not everything can be so routine. If you start early on you will have an amazing success with how your child can adapt and handle stressful situations. It is often said that those who complete college are better adept to handling stressful situations. This is only due to the fact that they have made it through and mastered the experience. Don’t let stress control life. Helping children stay on task and use their time appropriately is important. During downtime you can have independent tasks for your child to complete that require little to no assistance or prompting. These would be tasks that are already mastered and completed. You could have your child make their bed or put dishes into the dishwasher to help them with keeping the house clean and making them an essential part of the family unit. Teaching skills around the house proves very useful in general but also leads your child to become self sufficient and able to carry out jobs. These jobs can then be transferred to work at a store, office or school.