4 year old uses opposite words???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if anyone has experienced this, not opposite words... my 9 year old still cannot remember what second, minute, hour, week, month, year represent... we correct every time she says 'my birthday next month' and she means her birthday next year, or she says 'three weeks ago' and she means three days ago...

She does know the months of the year now (though didn't last year) and she can read an analog clock (though she couldn't last year).


Any tips for getting it to stick?

This is the mom of the 16 year old dyslexic above. The words for time and chronology are hard for him, and they get totally jumbled up. I have no clue if your daughter is dyslexic, but whether she is or not these issues are likely to resolve naturally with time. Yes, it is embarrassing and academically a bit of a pain for your kid to learn time, weeks, years, etc so much later than others, but it will happen. It is unlikely to be a problem by middle school - instead it may be a quirk your kid has. The other stuff that comes with dyslexia - reading, memory - that’s worth worrying about. But if your kid is okay there I wouldn’t worry about days/months/years.

[Anonymous]

This is interesting. My ds8 still frequently mixes up yesterday/tomorrow and hot/cold. I think we’ll probably end up with an adhd diagnosis for him but he has no learning disabilities and reads above grade level.

[Anonymous]

This sounds more like a symptom of a language disorder than dyslexia. Ask the school to do a screening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if anyone has experienced this, not opposite words... my 9 year old still cannot remember what second, minute, hour, week, month, year represent... we correct every time she says 'my birthday next month' and she means her birthday next year, or she says 'three weeks ago' and she means three days ago...

She does know the months of the year now (though didn't last year) and she can read an analog clock (though she couldn't last year).


Any tips for getting it to stick?

These are time concepts and SLP can help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if anyone has experienced this, not opposite words... my 9 year old still cannot remember what second, minute, hour, week, month, year represent... we correct every time she says 'my birthday next month' and she means her birthday next year, or she says 'three weeks ago' and she means three days ago...

She does know the months of the year now (though didn't last year) and she can read an analog clock (though she couldn't last year).


Any tips for getting it to stick?

I’m a lawyer who was trained on working with children and one of the things they taught us is that child witnesses are particularly unreliable when it comes to times/dates/frequency because so many kids have these words mixed up or use them in a way that is different from the way adults do.
That said, nine seems a little old to still be struggling with this and I think it will cause her problems especially as she moves into middle school and needs to have more time management of both academic and social events. I would try multiple ways of communicating the information—a family white board with schedules and dates; a paper calendar on the wall that you can review with her — visually seeing the flip from one month to the next (flip three months and that is when we go visit grandma; flip back one month and that was your birthday) will likely help solidify the concept in her mind. Look for opportunities to talk about time and to convey the information in as many ways as possible and it will start to click. It’s like math or reading or motor skills—some people pick them up intuitively and other people need more specific practice with those skills.

[Anonymous]

My NT kid who is 3.5 will say "I want you to start at the end" when she means the beginning.