Calendars

When I was a primary teacher, we did activities with calendars daily in class. Kids can learn so much from them! But, at home, I was not really exposing my daughter to them. Glad I finally did!

At age 2 Lucy began showing an interest in what I was writing in my personal calendar. And in her early 3's, she started counting while pointing to the numbers on my calendar. I would put my wall calendar on the floor and let her count with it. I really attribute this to her being able to count to 30 so early. I think she's a visual learner like me, so seeing those numbers while saying them really helped her. (She can now count to 50 at 3 1/2! Proud mama!)

So I finally decided to get her her own calendar. There was one on clearance at Target for about $3 so into my cart it went! I brought it home and she loved it! It's hung right at her level on the wall on a little hook that she can take it on and off of by herself.

We use it almost every day:
- At the beginning of each month, we sit together and fill in the activities for the month.
- We practice what sounds are in the words as I'm writing them and brainstorm a little picture to draw next to the words.
- We cross off each day together in the evening and talk about what's coming up soon.
- We count how many days until an exciting event- like Grandmommy visiting!
- We learn the order of the months as we flip through the calendar to find special days throughout the year.

This calendar is a bit boring looking, I'll admit. I'm thinking around Christmas I'll get her a special one for a gift.

Here's one of our favorite books to use year round. It's called Around the Year by Elsa Beskow. I absolutely love the illustrations! It stays near our nature table to refer to and read often!