This week we introduced a simple calendar during group time. On it we record days that we have school with green dots and days that we don’t with red dots. Each school day we cross out the days that have happened and draw in our next green dot day plus any red dot days that come before it. Temporal concepts are elusive to kids this young and although we don’t expect them to fully grasp how the calendar works, we do want to help kids anticipate what is happening in their lives. The simple pattern of red and green dots provides a visual to aid them in this.
Kids are interested in the calendar and are enjoying the new routine of talking about the days we come to school and the days we don’t and watching us make those red and green dots. Since teachers are the ones making the dots on the class calendar, we will provide blank calendars during playtime for kids to fill in however they wish. Though we know some children will use red and green dots as we do on our calendar, we don’t expect that everyone will. Some will experiment with other colors or types of marks or even scribble all over the paper. However children choose to use this paper, we know it will provide opportunities for them to express their understanding of the calendar and practice using writing tools in a way that is meaningful to them. Here is a link to a blank calendar page in case you’d like to offer one to your child at home.
One reason we decided to introduce calendars now is that we have some changes coming up that we want kids to be able to anticipate. One is parents day. We will mark this special day on the calendar ahead of time and then cross it off once it is over. After that, we will have spring break. At this point in the year, we feel most children are ready to attend to the calendar routine when we gather and that it will help them to understand that we will have many red dot days in a row, but then we will come back and have more school.
A reminder about using Remini at dismissal:
We’ve noticed that not all kids are getting checked out at dismissal. When picking up your child or when another caregiver is picking up your child, please use the QR codes on the fence along the sidewalk to do so. Please make sure you have the Remini App downloaded and/or have shared your caregiver’s Approved Pickup Code with them so they can check your child out from school. Here are the instructions from the portal.