Months of the Year
Grade 4 students learn the twelve months of the year in Saxon Math Intermediate 4 Chapter 1, including their ordinal positions and number of days. The classic rhyme helps: Thirty days have September, April, June, and November; all the rest have 31 except February alone (28 or 29 in a leap year). Students count forward through months to solve problems: summer vacation starting after May and lasting three months (June, July, August) means school restarts in September. The knuckle trick provides a physical memory aid for days per month.
Key Concepts
Property The year has twelve months in a specific order, from January (first) to December (twelfth). A common year has 365 days, while a leap year has 366 days.
Examples Example: The ninth month of the year is September, which has 30 days. Example: A leap year adds an extra day to February, making it 29 days long. Example: The third month is March, which has 31 days.
Explanation Knowing the months in order is like having a map of the year! It helps you find important dates, like birthdays or holidays. Remember the rhyme for days: “Thirty days have September, April, June, and November,” to help you remember how many days are in each month!
Common Questions
What are the twelve months in order with their number of days?
January 31, February 28/29, March 31, April 30, May 31, June 30, July 31, August 31, September 30, October 31, November 30, December 31. The rhyme: Thirty days have September, April, June, and November.
How do you find a month that is n months after a given month?
Count forward n steps through the ordered list of months. For three months after July: August (1), September (2), October (3). The game releases in October.
What is the knuckle trick for remembering days per month?
Make a fist. Starting on the first knuckle (January = 31 days), alternate: knuckle = 31 days, valley = 30 days (or 28/29 for February). After July on the fourth knuckle, restart the first knuckle for August.
How many months have 30 days?
Four months have 30 days: September, April, June, and November—remembered with the poem Thirty days have September, April, June, and November.
What is a leap year and how does it change February?
A leap year occurs approximately every 4 years. In a leap year, February has 29 days instead of the usual 28. Leap years are divisible by 4 (e.g., 2024, 2028).
What are real-world math problems that use months of the year?
Calculating how many days until a birthday, figuring out which month is six months away, planning project deadlines across months, and computing how long school breaks last all require knowing the months in order.