Literacy Spot #2: Calendars & Diaries

ByChristie Burnett

Does your child see you using a calendar or diary as a tool to help you stay organised?  Have you ever thought about adding one to your child’s play?  At this time of year, many Mums (and Dads) are setting up their calendar or diary for the year and I see this as a fabulous opportunity for your child to see you using literacy (and in this case, numeracy) in a meaningful way.

Here are a few suggestions for simply introducing a calendar or a diary to your child;

  • As you set up your own diary or calendar, adding birthdays, anniversaries and other engagements, talk casually to your child about what you are doing.  Offer them their own calendar or diary to ‘write’ in, alongside you.  You could recycle a previous years or purchase one from a discount store.
  • With many of the photo printing services  you can design and have printed a personalised calendar.  Including photos of family can be a great way of interesting your child in the calendar hanging in the kitchen or study.  As a page is turned over for each new month, a new photo memory is revealed to remember and recount.
  • Hang a second calendar alongside your own.  Help your child to put a sticker on a significant day of the week (maybe Tuesday as it is playgroup day or Thursday for music), each week for the month.  Repeat the process at the beginning of each month.
  • Does your child enjoy playing at visiting the doctors as part of their dramatic play?  Why not add phoning for an appointment and ‘writing’ it in the diary as an extension of the play.
  • If your child has a ‘home corner’ (with play kitchen, table, cot, etc) for role play, add a calendar or diary and see what their response is.  You can see one hanging in a corner of Immy’s play area below.

You may also like to visit this post for more information about introducing props into your child’s play.

What is Childhood 101′s Literacy Spot? It is a weekly reminder of the importance of young children learning playfully as each week I share one idea for playing around with literacy, taken from my many years working as an early childhood teacher.

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Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

6 Comments

  1. A great idea…I am thinking to put each month on the fridge.

  2. This is something I do with my older girls every year – I give them stickers too so they can mark their own birthdays etc (things that are important to them).
    I tend to buy them towards the end of jan when the shops are selling for $1!!
    xxxCate

  3. I know this is off the topic but where did that chair come from?

    1. Off topic is fine 🙂 Unfortunately, I am not sure as my Mum bought it for Immy and I have a feeling that it was just a little boutique store that she found it in.

  4. Christie – thank you! Love this idea and all of the specific suggestions!! 🙂
    Xo
    S

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