Daily planning – preschool style

“Mommy, is today a school day? Is it a trash day? Is Daddy coming home today?” The never ending litany of questions from my preschooler about what the day will bring is a daily occurrence. And it makes sense – knowing what the day will bring allows us to exert a measure of control over our lives. And in a life where the only certain thing is uncertainty, this can produce a little worry or anxiety. I keep track of things in a planner but for a preschooler who can’t read yet, and whose sense of time doesn’t extend beyond the here and now, a standard calendar won’t quite work, but with a few tweaks I was able to modify a weekly calendar into something he could use and enjoy.

I bought a week-at-a-glance magnetic grease board and a box of business card size adhesive magnets from my local office store. Then I took pictures of my son’s school, our house, and selected a few pictures from my files showing things that we do regularly or that we can look forward to. I printed the pictures out in a size small enough to fit onto the magnets, stuck them to the adhesive back of the magnet, and trimmed off the excess paper or magnet. The result is a calendar that my son can easily understand and interact with.

A week-at-a-glance magnetic grease board makes a great learning calendar for preschool age children

Now, when we come downstairs in the morning, he can move his magnet to the new day and see where he is going to be and what he can look forward to. This gives him a nice sense of relief that he won’t be surprised by what the day will hold, and he really likes that it is his special calendar – just like the rest of the family with our planners. And, as he becomes interested or is pertinent, I can easily print more pictures to modify the calendar for things like weather or chores.

For less than $15 I was able to create a tool that helps my little one now, and also lays the foundation of good organization and planning which will certainly help later.

Alia Reese is the spouse of a US Marine and mother of 2 young children. She holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology and used her experience raising children through her husband’s multiple combat deployments to create the award winning American Hero Books^® series. For more information please visit www.heartstarpress.com or contact Alia at info@heartstarpress.com.