Now that we’ve got our daily routine ready to go (you can read about it here) it’s time to really take a look at our homeschool block this year and the parts that make it up!
Since we are traditional homeschooling (for 2020) I knew I wanted a predictable way to start our homeschool block each day. It’s important to me that the girls have a consistent, familiar routine that they know signals our homeschool time. I know this isn’t the way everyone homeschools, but for our routine-oriented family, I know it will work. We all do better on a routine over here!
In comes CALENDAR TIME! Yep, good old calendar time will definitely have a place in our day. Calendar time has always been a favorite of ours and just something my girls have come to enjoy.
I like to follow a simple clear calendar routine that can be done in about 5-10 minutes each day. You can totally follow this routine just as is (out loud – talking and singing through) but this year since my oldest is starting kindergarten, I decided to create a CALENDAR BINDER!!!
This calendar binder is geared for kindergarten (& pre-k age 4) children. It follows a predictable routine and includes everything you need to create and set-up a simple, clear calendar routine.
*Note: For the sake of just doing one calendar time at our house, I will be doing this routine with both my girls (ages 3 and 5) together. I think exposure to traditional calendar time is awesome (so many skills being learned), but please keep in mind that with younger preschoolers a traditional calendar time is pretty abstract. Young children don’t really have a concept of time so don’t expect them to master or fully understand the concepts you’re teaching. If you do have young preschoolers I highly suggest looking into a linear calendar (it’s like a number line). Nonetheless, my youngest who is 3 will join the fun with our routine, we sing songs, include movment, and lots of conversational vocabulary.
In this resource, I share details on how to set up the binder, give an outline for a calendar routine, share tips, and provide all the printable pages for your calendar time.
One thing that I absolutely LOVE about this binder is that I included a page for independent start! Each day when it’s time to start our homeschool block my girls can pull out their binder and work on their name and chat sheet first. This gives me a second to get ready and gives them a chance to ease into the day. The resource includes several choices for this page.
After the girls finish their name and hands-on page, we are ready to officially begin our calendar time together! We sill start with the months of the year, move to the days of the week, and then the weather.
Before wrapping up calendar time I like to include some math skills practice! In this resource, you will find a TON of simple math mats that you can pick and choose from to get in some practice together.
What do you think? Will you be adding calendar time to your daily routine? Let me know what your’s looks like and if you like ours check out the resource and video below!
CLICK HERE: KINDERGARTEN CALENDAR BINDER
If you want to get an inside look at the binder and hear me chat through the ENTIRE ROUTINE check out this video!
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