Learning The Order Of Months - - Maths With Mum

What is a Month?

A month is a collection of approximately 30 days. Months were originally chosen from the period of time it takes for the moon to orbit the earth. There are 12 months in a year.

The moon takes about 29.5 days to fully orbit the earth. Therefore each month is chosen to last approximately 30 days.

The 4 months of April, June, September and November all have 30 days.

The 7 months of January, March, May, July, August, October and December all have 31 days.

February is the only month that has 28 days. It has 29 days on a leap year (every 4 years). Every year that is a multiple of 4 contains an extra day: February 29th.

A month is approximately 4 and a half weeks long. We can see this in the image below.

List of the Months in Order

The names of the 12 months in order are:

1. January – 31 days
2. February – 28 days (29 days on a leap year)
3. March – 31 days
4. April – 30 days
5. May – 31 days
6. June – 30 days
7. July – 31 days
8. August – 31 days
9. September – 30 days
10. October – 31 days
11. November – 30 days
12. December – 31 days

January is the first month of the year and January 1st is known as new year’s day.

December the final month of the year and December 31st is known as new year’s eve.

At midnight on December 31st the year ends and a new year begins with January 1st.

The animation below shows the months in order.

How to Remember the Months of the Year

To remember the months of the year, use the the rhyme ’30 Days Hath September’ or use the knuckle trick. It also helps to use posters and to ask questions such as, “Which month comes next?” or, “Which month is missing?” from a list. It also helps to remember which months are associated with memorable holidays and birthdays.

Rhyme to Remember the Order of the Months

30 days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, except February alone. That has 28 days clear and 29 in each leap year.

This rhyme helps us to memorise how many days are in each month. Quickly say the rhyme to find how many days there are in a particular month.

Firstly decide if the month you need is either September, April, July or November. If it is then it has 31 days.

If the month is February, then it has 28 days or 29 days on a leap year.

If the month is none of these months so far, it has 30 days.

The Knuckle Trick For Learning the Months

Place your closed fists forward knuckle side up. Each knuckle represents a month with 31 days and each gap between the knuckles is a month with 30 days (28/29 days for February). Start with the little finger knuckle of the left fist as January and move right through the months, continuing on from July at the end of the left fist to August on the left knuckle of the right fist.

Use our free downloadable and printable set of cards above, with the names of the 12 months on.

When teaching the months of the year, it is important to be familiar with the names before considering the order in too much detail.

Having the names printed out can allow you to move them around as you follow through the video lesson above and you can talk through the order of the months with your child.

Two copies of the months cards can be printed off and you can play snap with the cards to memorise the order of the months.

Generally having the months on display is useful and it is worth referring to a calendar and asking things such as, “What month is it?”, “What month were you born in?” to familiarise your child with the names.

However, to memorise the order of the months more quickly, it can be useful to test your child on small chunks of the year. Splitting the year into two halves or 4 quarters can help to chunk this memorisation up.

We will look at the 6 months in each half of the year, starting with the first 6 months from January to June.

What month is missing below?

It is January, the first month of the year.

Can you think of anything that happens in January?

New Year’s Day is in January.

It is helpful to link events, holidays or birthdays to each month to help remember them.

Which month is missing below?

It is May.

Here are some examples from the second half of the year, starting in July and ending in December.

Which is the month missing below?

It is December, the last month of the year.

Christmas is in December.

Which month is missing below?

It is September, the ninth month of the year.

Months that have 30 Days

The 4 months that contain exactly 30 days are September, April, June and November.

Months that have 31 days

The 7 months that contain exactly 31 days are January, March, May, July, August, October and December.

What is a Leap Year?

A leap year contains 366 days compared to a normal year which contains 365 days. Leap years occur every 4 years. On these years, an extra day is added on February 29th.

A year is a leap year if the number made from its last two digits is divisible by 4. If the last two digits are 00, then it is only a leap year if the number made by the first two digits is divisible by 4.

For example:

The year 2020 has a final two digits of 20. 20 is divisible by 4 and so, 2020 is a leap year.

The year 1988 has a final two digits of 88. 88 is divisible by 4 and so, 1988 is a leap year.

The year 2014 has a final two digits of 14. 14 is not divisible by 4 and so, 2014 is not a leap year.

The year 2002 has a final two digits of 02. 2 is not divisible by 4 and so, 2002 is not a leap year.