I am SOOOOO loving our new Calendar Time setup. At first we just used the board, which for us, didn’t work that great with multiple kids the exact same age and similar skill levels. However once we added the calendar notebook to it, it TOTALLY works for us! We have been at it for over two months now and it is working out GREAT!!! So, this post is primarily about our Calendar Board and our calendar. Feel free read more about our calendar notebook. So, here is our board and wall calendar.
I created the board above using one of those 1/4 inch think poster boards from the Dollar Tree. It has everything on it that we need to cover for Calendar Time, which is great for me. Out of sight means out of mind. I found that before this system, I would forget to do stuff. Now, it is all right in front of me. The top right corner has pages that I complete as the kids flip through the calendar notebooks. The little pouches below it contain all of the velcroed stuff they need to stick on the board. More details below. I got the original idea of using the board from Carisa and 1+1+1=1. But, I have altered and adjusted it a bit to work for us….
Each night I set out the pouches filled with the things the kids will need to stick on the board and calendar. (I do this because I really don’t like the idea of them pulling off the velcroed stuff from the day before. My board is only hanging with thumb tacks and ribbon and I really don’t want them to accidentally pull the entire board down while trying to take off something.) The older three kids complete the board and their calendar notebook in the morning after their chores, before breakfast. They do all of this while I get the little boys changed and dressed. KJ is kind of in charge of helping out the big boys as needed. After breakfast, we head back up to begin school.
So, this is how Calendar Time actually goes in my house once we “officially” begin our school day. (At this point the kids have already stuck everything onto the board and calendar and they have complete their notebook.)
We sing the Months of the Year song and the Days of the Week song and I make sure the kids stuck on the appropriate month/day. I point to our wall calendar as we go through the Days of the Week song and point out yesterday, today, and tomorrow. (I printed the list of months and days on color cardstock, laminated them, cut them and added adhesive velcro dots to them.)
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Download the Months of Year song and List of Months
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Download Days of the Week song and List of Days
Next, we talk more about the wall calendar. At this point the kids have opened their calendar notebooks, as this activity corresponds to the Monthly Calendar page in their notebooks. (I make sure that the wrote in the day correctly.)
Then, I go over the Make the Date with Money part of the board. We talk about the coins they added to the board. (This corresponds to the next page in their notebooks.) We talk about different ways they could make the date with their coins. (I put velcro dots on real coins to use on the velcro strip on the board.)
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Download Make the Date with Money
We also talk about the color and shape of the day that the kids chose. The little boys like to help out with this one. Everyone takes a turn pointing out something that is the color of the day and the shape of the day. (I printed the color and shape cards on cardstock, laminated them, cut them, and added velcro dots to them as well.)
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Download Color of the Day & Colors
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Download Shape of the Day
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I got the printable shape of the day cards from TLSBooks.com. The actual pdf is here.
Next we talk about the weather, all downloaded from Carisa’s website. We only use the sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snowy cards…so that it will coordinate with our weather graph.
Then I start flipping through the pages that are hanging on the top right corner as the kids flip through their notebooks. Most of these correspond to the pages in their calendar notebooks. I complete (write on) all of these pages as a model for the kids of what their pages should look like! Here are the pages in order:
Today’s Date is: This coordinates with the Written Date page in the calendar notebook. I laminated this page and I use a wet erase marker for everything but the actual day number, which is written with dry erase…so that I can erase that part daily. Download here.
How Many Days of School: We count the # of days we have had school and the kids tell me what comes next. I make sure that they completed this page correctly in their notebooks. On mine, however, I create color patterns. They have to also tell me what color to write the next number. See my calendar notebook post for download info.
Hundreds Tens Ones: The kids tell me what I need to do to complete my page as we talk about place value. I made sure that the kids completed their page correctly. See my calendar notebook post for details on how we made and use this page. Download here.
Tally Marks: I add a tally to the page and the kids count by fives. Again, I make sure that they completed their notebook page correctly. Download here.
Weather Graph: We talk about the weather card that they added to the board and they tell me where I need to color in my graph. See my calendar notebook post for download info.
Birthday Graph: The kids tell me if today is anyone’s birthday. If it is, they tell me where to color the graph. See my calendar notebook post for download info.
Once I complete the flip-through pages, we are done with Calendar Time. So, I know this seems like ALOT, but it is TOTALLY working for us!!!! If you have questions, please let me know!!! 🙂
I am linking this up with Jolanthe’s Preschool Corner calendar time post.
