Days in the Months of the Year

Okay. Forget all that's written below. I just realized the easiest way to remember for me is not to focus on the days with 30 days or less, but to think of the months with 31.

These are the months that have 31 days: the 1st, 3rd, & 5th; 7th & 8th; 10th and 12th.

Simply put, it's the odd months till the seventh. Then it's the evens start at the eighth. It's like going up the white keys on the piano starting on F up to D. It's whole tone, whole tone, whole tone, half tone; whole tone, whole tone. July and August. Those are the only neighboring months with the same number of days. February is a no-brainer. It's well-ingrained that it's a 28-day month with an extra day on leap years. So forget the rest and keep it simple. Odd months up to the seventh, then even months starting at the eighth. 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12. Those are the months with 31 days.



Below this is obsolete jabber.

This is my version of the rhyme to remember the number of days in the months of the year.

30 days in september
april , june, and november
every 4th february gets an extra 1
making it 28 + 1
in all others there are always 31


Although I have a better way that ingrains it in my memory instead of using a device for recall. The Japanese have a way that works great for their language. Basically, they make beneficial the fact that they can make words, phrases, and sentences out of numbers. Along with that, they name months by number: 1st month is January, etc.

Seeing what months have less than 31 days numerically, I find this the quickest and easiest way to recall, and better, to remember the number of days in each month.

2, 4, 6, and 9, 11 all have less than 30 days. The first one has the least - February with 28 and 29 on Leap Years. This the best way for me because I can pair it with knowledge that Halloween is on October 31, and that the first and last months have 31 days, too. Also, knowing that it's an every-other thing basically with a half-tone thing happening between July and August ingrains it even more.

If all that fails to come to mind, the knuckle method is a good one to fall back on. Make a four sign with the left hand. Count from the pinky to the index (no thumbs). Turn the hand over and continue from the index again (reminding you that the two index months have the same number of days (31). February comes after the pinky, the smallest finger, so that reminds you that it's the shortest month. Even this I don't feel a need for in the end. The best tool for recall and in the long-term remembering is remember 2, 4, 6, 9, 11. This makes positive use of the fact that we will never forget the numbers 9 and 11 when put together.