I love the idea of calendar time, but I always found it to be a bit difficult with multiple children the exact same ages and similar skill levels. It was always hard to decide who would get to do what. But, this problem was solved once we started using calendar notebooks!
How Calendar Time Works for Us
My school age kids (two kindergarteners and one 2nd grader) each have their own 3-ring binders. This way, they are all doing ALL of the activities…and no one is left out of anything.
The kids complete their daily activities in their calendar notebooks in the mornings after they do their chores (before breakfast) while I get the younger twins changed and dressed. My 2nd grader is kind of in charge of helping out the kindergarteners as needed. Once we “officially” begin our school day (after breakfast), we go over what they did in their notebook with the help of our calendar time board.
Our Calendar Notebook Pages
Cover Page: The kids all enjoyed designing their very own cover page to slide into the clear cover of the binder! The download contains various different covers to choose from.
Monthly Calendar Pages: The kids write in the correct number for each day of the month. These pages can be downloaded from the Meach Calendar website.
Writing the Date Page: Right now, my 2nd grade daughter is the only one who does this page. I created these so that she gets daily practice with writing out the date.
Make The Date With Money: I created this activity to help practice counting coins. The kids have to “make the date” using the coin cards. For example, the pic above was taken on the 15th day of the month. So, my kids used the dime and nickel for 15 cents. We also discussed other ways to make 15 cents. FYI, the cards were cut so that they can slide into a 9 pocket sports card page protector. I also put a blank page behind it so that the background is solid color page…rather than the next page of the notebook.
Days of School: Each day the kids write in the number of days we have been in school. For example, this photo was taken on the 26th day of school. This page can be downloaded from the Meach Calendar website.
Place Value Page: We use a sports card page protector for this as well (with a blank page behind it). Each day the kids add a sticker to the ones card and slide in the appropriate number card below it. Once there are ten stickers on the card, it is moved over to the tens column. The number corresponds to the “Days of School” page shown above. For example, this photo was taken on our 26th day of school. There are two sets of cards with ten stickers in the tens column and one card with six stickers in the ones column.
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Tally Marks: Each day the kids add a tally mark. This also coordinates with the “Days of School” page. For example, this photo was taken on our 26th day of school. With the activity, the kids also get daily practice with counting by fives.
So, that’s how we use our calendar notebook! For more calendar time resources, read about our Calendar Board!
