How to Get Started with Calendar Skills
When I was ready to teach calendar skills to my children with special needs, I read up on the topic. We tried a few different methods, this is what worked for us. Calendar skills are necessary for daily living and special needs kids can learn to use a calendar too! I hope this helps someone else in the future.
Teaching the Concept of One Day
Step 1
Begin by teaching the child a concept of a day. The child will get an idea of how long it takes a day to pass with repetition of an activity. Here are some ideas to get started:
*Get a calendar with one sheet per day. Make it the child's job to tear off a page each morning.
*Use a monthly calendar and have the child be responsible for crossing off the day as it passes.
*Talk about how the sun comes up in the morning and goes down at night. Show the child a visual representation of day and night if they have trouble with the concept.
Teaching the Concept of a Week
Step 2
Once the child has had plenty of practice understanding one day. Introduce the concept of one week. Explain to them that a week has 7 days. Show this to them on a calendar. Sing songs about 7 days in a week.
Introduce the days of the week to them as sight words. Point out that there are 7 of them and practice reading the day of the week each day, Monday, Tuesday, etc.
In addition to singing the days of the week in order, you can practice saying them. An alternative is simply to repeat the days of the week slowly in order. Do this frequently.
These days of the week free printable cards are perfect for sight word practice. They have symbols on them to help the child arrange them in order, before they are able to do it by the word alone. Sing the days of the week song, have them practice putting the days in the week in order and read each day from the days of the week sight word cards until the child has the days of the week memorized.
Often, it was easiest for us to simply read across the kitchen calendar days of the week in order. The calendar was always readily available, on the refrigerator, and it provided plenty of repetition to read them daily. After doing this for a while, we practiced putting them in order. If the child became stuck, we would run to the kitchen calendar and look to see what day came next.
Visual prompts often help children with special needs to commit new concepts to memory. For example, a picture of the sun on "Sunday," wind on "Wednesday," and 2 on "Tuesday," helped them read the words correctly.
Months of the Year
Teaching Calendar Skills to Special Needs Kids
At the beginning of each month, use the opportunity to prepare the calendar. This is a wonderful chance to talk to kids about the special events that occur in a month. For example, October is about falling leaves, pumpkins, windy days and harvest. Let the child color the calendar. Help the child choose colors that represent the month. Stickers and photos cut from a magazine can also be placed on the calendar. Discuss any special events that occur in the month, such as Halloween in October.
Make your own Calendar
Make your own calendar use a scene to be colored for each month. The word January, for example, can be colored along with a border of snowmen and snowflakes. It can also have page to be filled in with drawings, so kids can make their own artwork about the month of January, or cut pictures from magazines. Set aside a day to do calendar and talk about the weather and the season for that month.
It's a paper calendar, so we crossed off the day as it passed with a big X. It can also have stickers to plan for special occasions in the month, such as holidays and doctor appointments.
Hope it would be helpful , Cheers !!!!
