How to Memorize How Many Days Are in Each Month
Remember the first half of the poem., Commit the second half to memory., Remember a single word for each line., Listen to recordings of the poem., Add a small alteration to remember leap years., Ball your hands into fists and place them together...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Remember the first half of the poem.
There is a common nursery rhyme used to teach children the days in the months.
The first line reminds you how many months contain 30 days.The first line goes, "30 days have September, April, June, and November." You can remember, based off this line, that September, April, June, and November each have 30 days.
You may have to repeat this line quite a few times to successfully commit it to memory. -
Step 2: Commit the second half to memory.
The second half of the poem reminds you that February is a short month, and which months have 31 days.
The line goes, "When short February's done, all the rest have
31." Excluding September, April, June, November, and February, all the months have 31 days.You may have to repeat this line a few times to remember it, as with the first line.
Try repeating the whole poem a few times, after memorizing the first and second line.
This can help you commit the whole poem to memory. , If you're struggling to remember, a simple trick can help.
Try to remember a key word from each line of the poem, and find a way to associate that word with the line.For example, the first line goes "30 days has September." Try to remember the poem starts with a line containing the word "September." Try to imagine something to do with September that reminds you of the rest of the line.
For example, September is traditionally when school begins.
You can imagine a young school girl learning her multiplication tables and multiplying 10 times 3 to get
30.
This will help you remember, "30 days has September." The next line is "April, June, and November." You can try to remember symbols for each month.
Let's say you have an Aunt April.
You can picture her sitting out in the sun eating a turkey sandwich.
June is a traditionally sunny, summery month, and turkey is associated with Thanksgiving, which falls in November.
Continue using tricks like this throughout the rest of the lines of the poem.
This can help you better remember it. , Simple repetition is a great means to memorize poetry.
Find recordings of the poem online.
A site like YouTube may have recordings of the poem.
Play these recordings to yourself over and over again, and try to recite the lines along with the recordings.
This can help you memorize the poem.If you cannot find a recording online, use your phone or computer to record yourself saying the poem.
Then, play this recording back to yourself while you recite the poem along with it. , Some people do not struggle to remember the days in February, as it's only one month.
However, if you frequently forget the days in February, you can try memorizing an alteration of the poem instead.
This alteration goes, "30 days has September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have
31.
Save February, with 28 days clear, and 29 each leap year."You can memorize this version of the poem using the same tricks you used to remember the first version. , You can also use your knuckles to remember the number of days in each month.
To start, ball both your hands into fists.
Then, hold both your fists in front of your face.
Push your two balled fists together, so your two thumbs and two index fingers touch., You should start with January at the leftmost knuckle.
You will count the months by moving across your fists, counting each knuckle and groove as a month.Start with the outermost knuckle on your left hand.
This is the knuckle made by your left pinky.
This is January.
Move to the groove just to the right of your leftmost knuckle.
This is the groove between the knuckles made by your left pinky and ring finger.
This is February.
Keep moving across your two hands, naming each knuckle and groove the name of a different month. , When you reach the knuckle made by your left index finger, move immediately to the knuckle made by your right index finger.
Do not count your thumb knuckles, or the gap between your hands.The knuckle made by your left index finger should be July.
The knuckle made by your right index finger should be August. , The months that land on your knuckles are January, March, May, July, August, October, and December.
All these months have 31 days., The months that land on the grooves of your knuckles should be February, April, June, September, and November.
These months all have 30 days.If you do not end up with these months landing on your grooves, you may have done the trick wrong.
You may have accidentally skipped a knuckle or groove in the process, or accidentally counted the gap between your hands.
Try starting over and going slower this time. , An acronym can help you remember the names of the months.
An acronym is a memory device in which you make up a word or sentence using the first letter in a group of terms you must memorize.
This can easily be used to help you remember the days in each month.Remember, the months September, April, June, and November have 30 days.
The letters here are S, A, J, and N.
You could make a sentence like, "Sarah And June Nap." It may be tricky, however, to remember A stands for "April" and not August, so you may want to combine an acronym with another memory trick.
The months January, March, May, July, August, October, and December all have 31 days.
This leaves you with the letters D, J, M, M, O, J, A.
You can think of a sentence like, "Justin Must Make Diced Apricot Orange Jam." As many months have the same letters, you should again try to combine this with another memory device. , Mnemonic devices help you remember complicated information by associating an image with information.
For example, you want to remember there are 28 days in February most years.
Think about a series of hearts forming the shape of the numbers "2" and "8." February is the month of Valentine's Day, and hearts are an image associated with Valentine's Day., If you can find ways to make connections between which months have which number of days, it can be easier to remember.
Facts are easier to remember if you can make some connection.For example, September, April, June, and November all have 30 days.
Is there anything you associate with all these months? Maybe you could think about beginnings.
September marks the beginning of school, springtime weather frequently begins in April, June marks the beginning of summer, and the end of Thanksgiving in November is the beginning of the Christmas season.
You may not be able to link all the months with 31 days, as there are so many, but you may be able to find small connections between small groupings of months.
For example, January is known to be a harsh and cold month, March weather is often thought of as dreary and rainy, and October contains Halloween, a frightening holiday.
All these months have certain qualities that are scary, fierce, or harsh. -
Step 3: Remember a single word for each line.
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Step 4: Listen to recordings of the poem.
-
Step 5: Add a small alteration to remember leap years.
-
Step 6: Ball your hands into fists and place them together.
-
Step 7: Count the months working with your knuckles and grooves.
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Step 8: Do not count the knuckles on your thumbs.
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Step 9: Remember that months that land on a knuckle have 31 days.
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Step 10: Understand months that land on a groove have 30 days
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Step 11: excluding February.
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Step 12: Try an acronym.
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Step 13: Use a mnemonic device.
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Step 14: Find ways to connect months.
Detailed Guide
There is a common nursery rhyme used to teach children the days in the months.
The first line reminds you how many months contain 30 days.The first line goes, "30 days have September, April, June, and November." You can remember, based off this line, that September, April, June, and November each have 30 days.
You may have to repeat this line quite a few times to successfully commit it to memory.
The second half of the poem reminds you that February is a short month, and which months have 31 days.
The line goes, "When short February's done, all the rest have
31." Excluding September, April, June, November, and February, all the months have 31 days.You may have to repeat this line a few times to remember it, as with the first line.
Try repeating the whole poem a few times, after memorizing the first and second line.
This can help you commit the whole poem to memory. , If you're struggling to remember, a simple trick can help.
Try to remember a key word from each line of the poem, and find a way to associate that word with the line.For example, the first line goes "30 days has September." Try to remember the poem starts with a line containing the word "September." Try to imagine something to do with September that reminds you of the rest of the line.
For example, September is traditionally when school begins.
You can imagine a young school girl learning her multiplication tables and multiplying 10 times 3 to get
30.
This will help you remember, "30 days has September." The next line is "April, June, and November." You can try to remember symbols for each month.
Let's say you have an Aunt April.
You can picture her sitting out in the sun eating a turkey sandwich.
June is a traditionally sunny, summery month, and turkey is associated with Thanksgiving, which falls in November.
Continue using tricks like this throughout the rest of the lines of the poem.
This can help you better remember it. , Simple repetition is a great means to memorize poetry.
Find recordings of the poem online.
A site like YouTube may have recordings of the poem.
Play these recordings to yourself over and over again, and try to recite the lines along with the recordings.
This can help you memorize the poem.If you cannot find a recording online, use your phone or computer to record yourself saying the poem.
Then, play this recording back to yourself while you recite the poem along with it. , Some people do not struggle to remember the days in February, as it's only one month.
However, if you frequently forget the days in February, you can try memorizing an alteration of the poem instead.
This alteration goes, "30 days has September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have
31.
Save February, with 28 days clear, and 29 each leap year."You can memorize this version of the poem using the same tricks you used to remember the first version. , You can also use your knuckles to remember the number of days in each month.
To start, ball both your hands into fists.
Then, hold both your fists in front of your face.
Push your two balled fists together, so your two thumbs and two index fingers touch., You should start with January at the leftmost knuckle.
You will count the months by moving across your fists, counting each knuckle and groove as a month.Start with the outermost knuckle on your left hand.
This is the knuckle made by your left pinky.
This is January.
Move to the groove just to the right of your leftmost knuckle.
This is the groove between the knuckles made by your left pinky and ring finger.
This is February.
Keep moving across your two hands, naming each knuckle and groove the name of a different month. , When you reach the knuckle made by your left index finger, move immediately to the knuckle made by your right index finger.
Do not count your thumb knuckles, or the gap between your hands.The knuckle made by your left index finger should be July.
The knuckle made by your right index finger should be August. , The months that land on your knuckles are January, March, May, July, August, October, and December.
All these months have 31 days., The months that land on the grooves of your knuckles should be February, April, June, September, and November.
These months all have 30 days.If you do not end up with these months landing on your grooves, you may have done the trick wrong.
You may have accidentally skipped a knuckle or groove in the process, or accidentally counted the gap between your hands.
Try starting over and going slower this time. , An acronym can help you remember the names of the months.
An acronym is a memory device in which you make up a word or sentence using the first letter in a group of terms you must memorize.
This can easily be used to help you remember the days in each month.Remember, the months September, April, June, and November have 30 days.
The letters here are S, A, J, and N.
You could make a sentence like, "Sarah And June Nap." It may be tricky, however, to remember A stands for "April" and not August, so you may want to combine an acronym with another memory trick.
The months January, March, May, July, August, October, and December all have 31 days.
This leaves you with the letters D, J, M, M, O, J, A.
You can think of a sentence like, "Justin Must Make Diced Apricot Orange Jam." As many months have the same letters, you should again try to combine this with another memory device. , Mnemonic devices help you remember complicated information by associating an image with information.
For example, you want to remember there are 28 days in February most years.
Think about a series of hearts forming the shape of the numbers "2" and "8." February is the month of Valentine's Day, and hearts are an image associated with Valentine's Day., If you can find ways to make connections between which months have which number of days, it can be easier to remember.
Facts are easier to remember if you can make some connection.For example, September, April, June, and November all have 30 days.
Is there anything you associate with all these months? Maybe you could think about beginnings.
September marks the beginning of school, springtime weather frequently begins in April, June marks the beginning of summer, and the end of Thanksgiving in November is the beginning of the Christmas season.
You may not be able to link all the months with 31 days, as there are so many, but you may be able to find small connections between small groupings of months.
For example, January is known to be a harsh and cold month, March weather is often thought of as dreary and rainy, and October contains Halloween, a frightening holiday.
All these months have certain qualities that are scary, fierce, or harsh.
About the Author
Janice Coleman
Enthusiastic about teaching lifestyle techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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