There are various theories about time that differ in terms of the definition of time, time in relation to space and the individual perception of time. In this thesis we have focussed on the understanding of the concept of time in relation to mathematical thinking in the preschool years. The child gradually develops the meaning of the concept of time. Even before a child can look at a clock and read it reliably, they must learn certain characteristics of time. One of the essential characteristics is the passing of time. A child perceives time as a sequence of events related to the moment in which it finds itself. When a child talks about time, he refers to events in his life (for example, when asked when, he answers: "After lunch."). It is important to provide the child with many experiences during the preschool years so that they learn the concept of time. In the theoretical section, we have defined the concept of time based on the literature in the field of time understanding and summarised the research findings on preschool children's understanding of time. We reviewed the presentation of goals related to time in different areas of the Curriculum for kindergartens. In the empirical work, we have examined how children sequence events from picture books and from real life; what terms and words they use when talking about the picture book and about their lives; what errors are common in the acquisition of the terms we use in discourse about time; and what differences there are between children of different ages. In this thesis, we have talked about the terms and words that children use to define time. Terms are words that have a clear specific meaning and denote certain points in time or periods of time (e.g.: today, Monday, afternoon, ten of the clock). Time words (and phrases) are more general and do not have a precise definition of when exactly they occur (e.g., next, soon, later, always), but they help to determine the order of events.
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