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.
Mama Jenn
You are very welcome! Thanks for stopping by!
Katie
Thank you so much for your wonderful blog. I found it through Pinterest. I’m a beginning homeschool mom and have found so many fabulous resources on your site!
Mama Jenn
Thank you so much for your kind words!!!
Dottievandiver9803
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this. My kids would argue over who’s turn it was to do what on the morning board last year. Even though I kept track of turns it somehow always got a little confusing. I was already leaning towards doing something like this. Thank you for doing the brainstorming and planning for me. I love your blog and so appreciate you!
Felicia
Love the calendar board. I defiantly need to re-make mine and add some of your great ideas. Thanks
Anonymous
Wow! I just discovered this world of blogging by homeschool moms 2 weeks ago and I am overwhelmed! Where the heck have I been for the past 4 years?! I have been so inspired and encouraged to continue by FAITH! Between your blog, Delightful Learning and Homeschool Creations, I just don’t know what to say. I was happy to know that I’m not too far off – THANK YOU JESUS! You guys have amaaaazing ideas that of course I’m going to incorporate with what I’m already doing. In fact, I’m putting together a Calendar board for my daughter (3.8) right now – yes, at this hour. I took a break just to leave you a comment and say thanks! I’m very excited to see your Brown like me Book reviews. I just discovered it this afternoon in the side bar and saw Ellington Was Not a Street. I’m always looking for opportunities to show my kids (almost 14, 11 (2 boys) and 3) positive images and stories that look like them. I knew for sure that it was meant for me to visit your blog when I went to the library to pick-up books today, guess what book I ran across without even looking for it…that’s right! Ellington Was Not a Street. We’ll dive into it tomorrow (TODAY)! Thanks for sharing!
Lastly, (sorry so long…I’m a writer by gifting, I would love to become apart of this amazing world of support, but I have no idea of where to start! This would be great for documenting our journey (which I hate to say, but I’ve not done a good job of that) as well as sharing some things that we’re doing. I have to share the calendar board! But I have a problem…I’m not very tech savvy! No, REALLY. You guys look like professionals and I would just like to get started? Any advice? HELP – Have Empathy and Lead me Please! Warning!!! God deals with me in acronyms! They just come out of no where! I can be reached at [email protected]. I have a blogger account (from my experiment 2 years ago) but I think I need to reset the password, ’cause I don’t know it. Again, I apologize for the length – SIMPLY EXCITED! OVERJOYED! The Lord knows what we need, when we need it! Blessing to your amazing family!
Genyne
Homeschooling by FAITH
Posting as Anonymous…don’t know how to do the profile thing YET! It’s bad..:) But once I get started I’ll be fine.
G Jolly
Simply Wonderful! I just spent hours looking for something like this…THANK YOU! SOOOOO MUCH! I send my love and best wishes to your awesome program. Thank you for your time and effort making my homeschooling so much easier!
Anonymous
Hi I’m new. Nice forum. Just found it on AOL. tks 4 the Excellent community we have here 🙂
serena
I also added “word of the day” and “body part of the day” to our calendar. The kids are never too young to learn great vocabulary and about our body
Raising a Happy Child
Wow, you really turned it into a very efficient mini-unit. Great ideas.
L2L
Jenn, I really like how you hang up the pocket protector sheets. I’ve started the IttyBitty BookWorm program with my little CJ and started putting stuff in page protectors!! I like this idea as it does keep it in sight and well organized. Going to have to go get me some of those hooks and put on our board tonight!!!! Love it, love it.
btw, no I don’t have a pattern for that, kinda made it up as I went along. I’m going to make a couple for b-day gifts so I’ll make a tutorial just for you and let you know when it’s done. And I am having a ball joining in the fun of Kiddos Create!!!!
Ticia
I am so slacking on calendar time. I so need to get back into it. I guess partially it wasn’t working for us, and I need to revise it. That’s the main problem. Soon, I’ll fix that. By the way, aren’t your big boys having a birthday soon? I ask because I remember theirs as being somewhere around my boys, and mine just turned 5.
Felicia
Love the calendar board. I defiantly need to re-make mine and add some of your great ideas. Thanks
Deborah (Teach Preschool)
This is awesome – thanks for going through all that trouble to share your ideas!
Jennifer G.
WOW…this is awesome! Thanks for posting all this information! I read about your calendar notebooks the other day and immediately put them together for my children. Thanks for sharing how you run your calendar time!