Early childhood calendar routines have often bored me. These routines have felt like a waste of time. While I know it’s important for our children to learn the months, seasons, days of the week, important days; I’ve noticed that children have a different sense of time than we do, and our imposition of time has led to confusion and perhaps boredom. I discovered that the linear example of a calendar, that is – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday makes no sense to children because it doesn’t show that after Saturday comes Sunday. This is also true for the months of the year. 

In my kindergarten classes, I made a weekly wheel, and monthly wheel, to show that this is continually repeating. The wheel really helped my kindergarteners understand the calendar better. If you are in kindergarten you might want to try this presentation of the calendar. Of course, singing a little song for the days of the week and the months of the year helps children learn faster. I’m sure you all do the same or hope so. However, PreK is a bit different. 

Last year at a PD for NYC PreK For All teachers, I heard something that finally resonated with me about the calendar. “Preschoolers DON’T get it and it’s a waste of time to go through the entire calendar every single day. Four year olds have a very different sense of time than we do. They think in the moment and can only handle the presentation of the calendar on a weekly basis not the entire month.” “Wow” I thought, “Finally something that makes sense to me about the calendar.” “Furthermore,” the PD instruction continued, “The only relevant thing that happens in a preschoolers life is what is happening during the day, therefore we suggest you have one child draw something of interest or importance for that day and you post it on your calendar.”  “Perfect!” I thought, this was a great solution to the calendar problem, which has plagued and often perplexed me for years. First of all, I didn’t have to spend too much time on it and second, it would be relevant to the lives of the children. 

At first, I listed the days of the week in order and just showed the month. I found that this group of students wasn’t able to draw a picture, so I just reviewed our daily activities and then asked one child to name an interesting event of the day and I drew the picture for them. We posted it and all was well! However, I was having a bit of problem with the way the week was displayed, that is – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. It just didn’t make sense since, Sunday and Saturday are not days we are in school. So I altered the presentation of the week as follows:

Monday ~ Tuesday ~ Wednesday ~ Thursday ~ Friday      Saturday

                                                                                              Sunday

Now, these preschoolers are beginning to understand the idea of the weekend and school week. It’s perfect for them! I simply place the school week front and center and group Saturday and Sunday together with a picture of a home next to each. I find the children are now pointing out, “Look! We go to school here but here we stay home!” “Yes.” I can add, “this is the weekend!” If there is something that consistently happens on a weekly basis, I also draw a picture of that event. This also helps the children understand the movement of time during the week. At the end of the week, I staple the pictures together and give it to one child to read to their parents at home. I call it, Our Weekly Book. The kids enjoy taking it home and reviewing the week and pictures.

I hope this helps you refine your routines for your preschoolers and increase the relevancy of instruction.