A Learning Opportunity {Teaching Kids Days, Weeks and Months}

0

I recently picked up a dry erase calendar for my family and had my three elementary-aged kids help fill it in. Ain’t the most Pinterest-worthy lookin’, but it was a great learning opportunity. 

We started the task by finding out what day today is. If we know today, we can figure out every other day!

learning

I first asked my kids if today is at the beginning, middle or end of the month. We knew what day of the week it was, but not which week of the month. We had a quick conversation about estimating and chose a week to mark today. Counting backward, we figured out we were right. Starting our calendar mid-month was proving more useful than starting (maybe in a more organized way) at the beginning.

Then I asked my 10-year-old what the date would be in one week? At first, they felt unable to answer. Working together we were able to verify the days in a week, which I knew they knew, but how it correlated to knowing which date comes exactly a week apart. A little mental math and we were able to fill in an entire column of our month. 

To engage my 5-year-old, I asked what number comes before and after each day we had so far. They were able to count up and down, sometimes starting from a benchmark number like 10 or 20, to contribute to our calendar project. They enjoyed having a turn and writing in numbers. 

My 8-year-old was tasked with writing the month and inquired about the empty spots before the first. After singing the months of the year together, they were able to identify the last days of the month before. Wanting to include those in our calendar, we had a chat about months having abbreviations and writing them in the previous month’s days. 

Every caregiver can share ways in which there is learning all around us. If we take time and dive into those moments, we can explore those opportunities together. I hope sharing this calendar project helps you feel encouraged to take on a similar project in your own home.