Teach your child rhymes about the months of the year, days of the week, and number of days with these easy nursery songs and lyrics.
I volunteered in my 2nd grader’s class today for a “writer’s workshop” and typed up lovely poems for a half hour. But I was a little early and found this winner posted on her classroom wall. I used the days of the week song to teach my kids as preschoolers the days of the week, which isn’t much of a song but goes…
There are 7 days, there are 7 days, there are 7 days in a week:
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
And the rhyme I learned as a child to remember the number of days in certain months:
30 days has September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have 31,
Except for February which has 28 days
and 29 on a leap year.
And now here’s a great rhyme for the Months of the Year:
January, February, March, April, May
June, July, August. Hooray, Hooray!
September, October, November, December,
These are the months that I CAN REMEMBER!
9 Picture Books to Teach the Months of the Year
I also noticed that she uses picture books in the months of the year in conjunction with this rhyme. Since all the books on the months of the year emphasize seasonality, you could easily incorporate seasons and holidays and tie them back to the months of the year.
Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak
This is our favorite picture book about the months of the year. My oldest child’s first grade teacher had an oversized version of this book for 1st grade and taught this book as a song with a little dance. I’m not much of a singer so we just read the book as a rhyming poem.
It’s charming and I love Sendak’s illustrations. And I agree, chicken soup and rice is perfect to eat the entire year long!
Lighting Our World: A Year of Celebrations by Catherine Rondina and Jacquie Oakley
Light has been used in many cultures to celebrate special occasions and this advanced picture book highlights the many kinds of calendars including lunar (Muslim), Gregorian (United States and most of the world), and lunisolar (Chinese and Jewish).
Each month showcases how other countries and cultures use light as part of their celebrations by a child from that country. For January, Sophie explains Up Hella Aa, a fire festival in the Shetland Islands of Scotland.
Other light festivities include Las Fallas (Spain), Carnival (Caribbean), Nowruz (Iran), Holi (India), Walpurgis Night (Sweden), Easter (Germany), Cinco de Mayo (USA), Buddha’s Birthday (South Korea), Inti Ryami (Peru), Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (Canada), Obon (Japan), Chung Yuan (China), Tet Thrung Thu (Vietnam), Enkutatash (Ethiopia), Diwali (India), Ramadan (Egypt), and more.
The light celebrations are interesting in that they offer a glimpse into many different cultures and countries and also shows the similarities that people around the world and throughout time have used light as part of a ceremony. On that level, it brings us all together.
I like this multi-cultural twist on months of the year and this advanced picture book would be a nice addition to a classroom. It might be used to highlight a country or a few countries that are part of the curriculum. The idea of a calendar can be extended through this book into a multicultural experience.
I’d recommend this book for grades 2 and up. Older kids will enjoy learning about the different ways to celebrate light around the world.
CalendarBears: A Book of Months by Kathleen Hague
Another first grade teacher my two younger kids had this book on display when she taught the months of the year. In fact, the last rhyme is hers. This picture book series uses teddy bears to introduce concepts like the months of the year and the alphabet.
The teddy bear illustrations help to emphasize the seasons for each month.
Long Night Moon by Cynthia Rylant
Cynthia Rylant has never written a bad book so it’s not surprising that her take on a months-of-the-year book is something unique and wonderful. She uses Native American names for full moons — one for each month — with matching poems. Multicultural, science-y and nature.
This is my kind of months of the year book.
Once Around the Sun by Bobbi Katz
If you like The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, then this is the months of the year picture book for you! Katz takes an African-American brother and sister and pairs the months of the year with poems that capture their experience in and around their neighborhood.
A Busy Year by Leo Lionni
Two mice and a tree have a busy year together looking after each other and they look forward to doing it again next year.
Twelve Hats for Lena: A Book of Months by Karen Katz
Lena Katz (notice the same surname as the author?!) is making a hat for each month decorated with how she celebrates each month. January’s hat with snowballs and snow games ushers in the New Year, for example. Lena celebrates the holidays that mark each month of the year.
Lena loves arts and crafts and instructions are included. This would make a fun book club for kids, especially girls!
The Turning of the Year by Bill Martin, Jr., illustrated by Samuel Maitin
Rather than holidays, Bill Martin uses rhymes to emphasize the activities a child can do each month. It emphasizes old-fashioned outdoor fun like pumpkin picking, sledding, and catching fireflies. This book would be fun to use all year to try to replicate each activity at home.
Around the Year by Elsa Maartman Beskow
The illustrations remind me of old-fashioned fairy tale books with delicate watercolor washes that make everything look like an ethereal fantasy. Also rhyming, this lovely picture book notes the natural world that each month brings: poppies in July, red apples in September, and new sprouts of Spring’s first growth.
p.s. Related posts:
Gift Guide: Toys that Motivate Kids to Read
Tips to Encourage Struggling Readers
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My mom always uses that rhyme. Rhyming is a great way to remember things!
My kids love Chicken Soup with Rice too!
Hi Ann,
I have to say that I use that rhyme myself whenever I think of months of the year. Maurice Sendak’s book is such a classic. I’m sorry he’s left us.
just starting again with great grandchildren, so many new ideas. A fantastic help