User Guide

Magnetic Learning
Calendar
Calendar time is a great way to start an early learner’s
day, at home or in school. Use it to recall previous
days’events and make plans for days ahead.
Getting Started
Before using your Magnetic Learning Calendar, punch out each
magnetic piece and match it to the appropriate place on the calendar.
Since the placement of the dates on the days of the week will change
each month,use a calendar as a guide when you place the dates on the
grid.There are four blank date squares.Use a felt tip marker or stickers
to make your own special squares for birthdays, holidays,tests, etc.
Place the four weather scenes below the date grid and the names of the
months should be stored at the bottom of the calendar with January,
February, and March in the first column and so forth.
What Is a Calendar?
Discuss the purpose of a calendar. Where are calendars used in the
home? What kinds of things are recorded on a calendar? Have children
look around their homes and count how many calendars there are.
What would they record on their own personal calendar?
Days of the Week
Repetition is the key to learning the days of the week. As you set up
the calendar each week, say the name of each day as you point to it,
and have children repeat it.
Months of the Year
A new month is a big event at calendar time. Show children that the
last month is over by putting its label back in the storage area at the
bottom of the calendar. Place the new month’s label at the top of
the calendar. Review the names and sequence of the months of the
year. Point to each month and say it’s name. Have children repeat it.
Talk about last month, this month, and next month.
How Many?
How many days are in a week? How many days are there until
Valentine’s Day? How many days are there until the school play? Use
calendar time as a time to practice counting. Sometimes it is easier for
young children to count forward to an upcoming event than it is to
count days that have passed. As you select today’s date, have children
count how many days have passed in the month.
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Young children are just learning about the passage of time and
understanding the concepts of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You
can recall events of the past day,and talk about what will happen today
and on future days. Use the words yesterday, today, and tomorrow
frequently. As children begin to understand the concept, use the
names of the days: Yesterday was Tuesday, today is Wednesday, and
tomorrow will be Thursday.
Seasons
What is a season? What months are in each season? What kind of
weather do you find in each season? How many months are in each
season? What kinds of activities do children do in different seasons? As
an activity, mix up the order of the months at the bottom of the
calendar.Then have one student at a time choose a month and place
the magnet over the correct season picture at the top of the calendar.
Do this until all months are sorted on top of the correct picture.
Weather Graph
Keep track of the weather day by day.Make a graph with the four kinds
of weather along the left hand side. Each day, put an X in the row that
corresponds with the weather of that day.At the end of the month,talk
about the most and least frequent types of weather. Compare the