Free Linear Calendar & Why you should use it!

You don’t have to throw away calendar time; make it meaningful with a free linear calendar for preschool. On Friday, I facilitated a session at the Washington Association For The Education of Young Children’s annual conference. I spoke about math and how we can better teach it in simple, everyday ways. As part of the workshop, the attendees got access to a bunch of downloads, including something I’ve never given away for free before! My linear calendar!

​Why Use A Linear Calendar?

Research indicates ​that traditional calendars are not practical teaching tools. The time spent on them uses up more of our students’ self-regulation than it provides valuable instruction, which doesn’t really make sense, at least not mathematically. We normally use ten frames, but the calendar is a 7-frame, with the starting point changing every month! And months, weeks, and days are all really abstract!

If you aren’t ready to give up the calendar as a whole, I suggest (​based on expert recommendations​) using a linear calendar, which allows children to visualize the passage of time. When using it, make sure to make it meaningful. Remembering that the goal isn’t to have children recite days of the week or months of the year, but rather to understand the passage of time.

I use questions like “I wonder how many days we have until Halloween? How could we figure that out?” and work in math vocabulary like ” Do you think we are at the start of the month or end of the month?”

Here is the linear calendar I use. I’ve tried to include as many holidays as I could, but if you don’t see something on here, add it with a dry-erase marker. I laminated mine, stapled it to the wall, cut out the special day cards and added velcro dots. It’s been such a great addition to my classroom for 3 + years!