The Morning Meeting Tradition to Start Your Early Learner’s Day Off Right
Sometimes the simplest additions to your homeschool routine have the biggest impact. Calendar time is one of those things! What takes only a few minutes each morning can support math skills, language development, independence, and real-world awareness. In this post, I’ll share how we introduced the calendar during our learning time and why it’s quickly become one of my favorite parts of our day ☀️
Why I Chose the Calendar:
During my time as an early elementary educator, I was trained on how to conduct an effective morning meeting. There were a lot of components in it, but one that stuck with me was calendar time.
It allowed so many opportunities to sneak in learning and made sure everyone (including myself😅) were on the same page about our day. Plus it’s the perfect transition into learning!
So, the decision to bring this into our homeschool routine was a no brainer. BUT! I wanted it to be introduced during a significant time for my son, so I had his vested interest. And what’s more interesting than your birthday! 🎉
June 1st rolled around and a spot on our family chalkboard was cleared! This marked the start of our new morning routine.
How to Conduct Calendar Time:
- Before anything, grab yourself a calendar: Any version of a calendar will do, whether it’s printed on paper or a felt one made just for kiddos. I grabbed this one from TeacherCreatedResources and it’s been great so far! Now, find a visible place to display it. It should be somewhere that your child can reach (side of a fridge works great!)
- Be the leader: Just like I did as a teacher, I started by doing everything for my toddler, he was simply an observer. This allows them to just take in the information without the pressure to preform, and they get a gist of the routine.
- Create a repeatable routine: The order in which you say something doesn’t totally matter, but make sure you can repeat it day after day. Here’s the verbiage I used in the classroom, as well as with my toddler:
“Today is… Sunday, June 7th. The season is… Spring. The weather is… hot and sunny.”
BONUS - If your child's ready for it, add in a visual schedule to this routine! In my classroom, we would review it every day after the weather (as seen above.) It's a great way to create responsibility and introduce time ⏰
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The Benefits:
The benefits of adding calendar time to your homeschool morning routine are endless, but here are a few notable ones from a variety of areas:
- Number recognition: Seeing numbers in a variety of places helps with visual recognition.
- Pattern recognition: You can use the numbered days to practice skip counting in a variety of denominations (by 2’s, by 5’s, etc.) You can also discuss how every week has 7 days and the set amount of days in each month (except for Freaky February 🤪)
- Telling time: If you choose to add a visual schedule for your little learner, having the time certain events are happening is a great way to introduce telling time. It’s an awesome reference point that they would already feel familiar with!
Starting calendar time may introduce your child to a ton of new words. Here are some words that they may have heard, but now may actually understand:
- Weather terminology – Stormy, Temperature, Foggy, Cool (in regard to the temperature 😎)
- Days of the week – No longer just today, tomorrow or yesterday, but now Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday and so on.
- Months of the year – You’d be surprised how hard of a concept it is to give a name to a group of days…
- Prepositions – Discussing something happening before, afterwards, or in between events gives them a better understanding of prepositions.
- Seasons – Not only talking about the seasons, but what each season entails too!
This one may seem silly, but it can be really meaningful. The calendar I purchased came with a TON of holiday cards for me to place throughout the month. There of course were the obvious ones (Christmas, Halloween, etc.) but there were also a ton of holidays I don’t yet celebrate. That got me thinking…
Just because I don’t personally celebrate them, doesn’t mean it’s not a beautiful opportunity to learn about them!
So put that unknown holiday on the calendar, and see what sort of questions your little learner asks about it. You two can educate yourselves together and possibly come out celebrating a new holiday!
Strive for Independence:
Earlier in the post, I said I start by doing everything for my toddler when conducting calendar time. But that’s not the end goal. Just like in the classroom, this should be something that they can eventually do for you. You’re still involved, you’re just the learner and they get to be the teacher.
I’ve only been doing this for a week and my toddler is already getting a grasp on the auditory routine and starting to say the prompts himself. (Disclaimer – it never happens this fast in a classroom 😅) Just take it day by day and see that independence blossom. Before you know it, they will be telling YOU what day it is!
Final Thoughts
Calendar time is proof that learning doesn’t have to be complicated. With just a few minutes each morning, you can build math and language skills, increase your child’s awareness of the world around them, and encourage growing independence. Whether your child is simply observing or leading the routine themselves, this small habit can have a big impact on your day!
❤️ Until next time
