Calendar Time

We usually start our school day with calendar time using this bulletin board I pieced together from materials I had when I taught fifth grade.

Here's what our calendar time entails:

• Today is Friday.
• Tomorrow is Saturday.
• The weather is sunny.
• Today is Friday, October 1, 2010. 
• How do you say October in Spanish? Octubre
• The days of the week are....
• The days of the week in Spanish are....
• The season is Fall or Autumn

Calendar time has been good for us for the following reasons:

• A routine for transitioning into our school day.
• Practice with Spanish. I distinctly remember doing these types of recitations in my junior high Spanish class. It has stuck with me all these years.
• Awareness of weather. This carries on throughout the day. We are often going back and making changes to the board as the weather changes.
• Learning about days, weeks, months, and seasons.
• Reading skills.
• A fine-motor workout, since everything is stuck in with push pins.
• Provides an opportunity to discuss upcoming plans, birthdays, and holidays.

We are also learning this little rhyme. I was shocked that my husband had never heard it before he met me. Have you heard this one?

Thirty days has September
April, June and November
All the rest have 31
Except February, which has 28


OTHER RESOURCES FOR CALENDAR TIME

• Starfall. There's a fun calendar feature on this excellent educational website for kids.
• One Lighthouse, One Moon. A lovely children's book about days, months, and seasons. Our favorite part of this book is the little lighthouse cat Nini who appears on each page. This has been a well-loved book at our house. 
• The Little Island. We love this book for many reasons, including the poetic way it describes the changing seasons.  
• Old Bear.  A very simple and sweet story about a bear and the changing seasons. The illustrations are vibrant and beautiful.