<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be honest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Does your calendar time consist of kids with excited faces and lots of chatter and engagement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or is it a time for kids to sit still, be quiet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n CONFESSION<\/strong>: I would require my group to sit still. No one was allowed to talk but me. The extent of our engagement during this time was asking a child to come and place today’s date card on the calendar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Back in the day, my crew of toddlers and preschoolers used to sit in a semi-circle in front of a huge calendar grid and would count along with me and my fancy pointer; sounding more like robots than excited children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would ask the same question every day, “If today is _______ , then yesterday was ________, and tomorrow will be ______?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n CONFESSION<\/strong>: 99% of the the kids in my group had no clue that tomorrow was Friday and yesterday was Wednesday; nor did they care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, we would announce the month, followed by singing our ‘Days of the Week’ song. After that, we would talk about the weather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a real buzz-kill.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of my time was spent reminding the three, four and five-year olds to sit on their pockets and to put their “eyes on me”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon reading through research of what is developmentally appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers, I’ve decided that calendar time is more of an expected ritual for most early childhood educators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This activity gives the illusion that kids are in a rich learning environment proving they are doing Kindergarten-ready activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the outside, it looks as though these young children are catching on. They’re getting it! Listen to how they count and can sing the days of the week!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, this is true. But is it meaningful to them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was engineering tiny calendar robots who sat nicely with little to no zest in their beautiful eyes. There were <\/em>a few rowdy friends…shouting out the numbers on the calendar at the the top of their lungs with great gusto; but they didn’t grasp the concept of time. Calendar Time was just something we did, so they followed suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A wonderful article<\/a>, published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) addresses this question of whether or not teaching calendar concepts is relevant in early childhood. In this article, the authors Sallee J. Beneke, Michaelene M. Ostrosky, and Lilian G. Katz, share that there is a barrier to understanding the calendar fully, even after much repetition by the teacher. They share: <\/p>\n\n\n\n To participate meaningfully in calendar activities, young children must understand that time is sequential. The sequences include yesterday, today, and tomorrow; morning, afternoon, and evening; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and so on. Children also must be able to conceptualize before and after and think about future and past events…. Thus, young children can talk about things that have happened or will happen, but they cannot yet understand or talk about these events in terms of units of time (days, weeks) or sequence. This child development knowledge draws into question the usefulness of calendar activities for children under age 6. <\/p> Sallee J. Beneke, Michaelene M. Ostrosky, and Lilian G. Katz <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In addition to doing some online research, I had attended a few training sessions lead by instructors <\/a><\/strong>who were passionate about play-based learning and developmentally appropriate activities in early childhood settings. They spoke boldly about their opinions regarding calendar time and how it has no place in a preschool setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I began to open my mind to calendar time alternatives. I started to observe the kids in my group during this time and promised to make this group time more meaningful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The kids in my crew didn’t care if it was October<\/strong>, but they did <\/em>get excited when they found out Halloween <\/strong>happened in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The toddlers and preschoolers knew it was winter <\/strong>and they loved to play in the snow<\/strong>, but they didn’t necessarily understand that we were in the month of January<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They didn’t care if it was a weekday <\/strong>or the weekend<\/strong>, but they were <\/em>interested if the next day was going to be a ‘stay at home day’ or a ‘school day’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I simply wasn’t ready to cut calendar time out completely because I knew the kids in my group loved to be informed about our time together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kids are really good at anticipating special occasions like birthdays or Valentine’s Day or Crazy Hair Day. Ever have a child ask you how many more days until their birthday? Or invite another child to their birthday party which is “only” 8 months away?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just like everything else in the play space, I needed to find a way to make calendar time meaningful to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully, I stumbled upon a popular preschool website called “Pocket of Preschool”. Jackie is a preschool teacher and had written a post about how to build a linear calendar<\/a> that changed everything for me and our calendar time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went to the Teachers Pay Teachers site and purchased and downloaded<\/a> her calendar kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jackie does a great job of explaining how to construct the calendar too. Read on for the steps I took to create a linear calendar for our classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To accomplish this task, you’ll need to purchase a blank calendar<\/strong> poster <\/strong>(one with just the grid for a calendar). They might even sell plain classroom calendar grids at the Dollar store! OR! Better yet, you may have one hanging on your wall already….Time to cut this bugger up into pieces:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is your linear calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip:<\/strong> To increase the cuteness factor, I bought a piece of black tag board and cut horizontal strips that were a little bit bigger than my calendar strip so that it had a tidy border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow Jackie’s instruction in your download for what you need to do to create the number cards, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"calendar](\"https://theempoweredprovider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/PIN_-CALENDAR-TIME.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nDoes Your Calendar Time Feel Forced?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"boy](\"https://theempoweredprovider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/calendar-time-800x533.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Illusion of Calendar Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https://theempoweredprovider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_8495-400x600.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nMY LITTLE ‘CALENDAR ROBOTS’ COULD:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nIs Calendar Time Appropriate for Preschoolers?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNEW CALENDAR IDEAS FOR PRESCHOOL<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat young kids do know about the calendar:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHOW TO MAKE CALENDAR TIME MEANINGFUL FOR YOUNG KIDS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHow I Transitioned to a Linear Calendar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nConstructing Your Linear Calendar <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"photo](\"https://theempoweredprovider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/calendar-2-e1537993164524.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHow to Make Your Linear Calendar Cards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n