R
rockerweenie
Guest
I teach in a Pre-K Counts classroom and as of right now we do our calendar at the circle after breakfast. The children sing the days of the week song to figure out what day of the week we are on, we count all the days up to the current day to get the current date. I am fully aware that 3, 4 and 5 year olds really are not grasping the concept of 7 days a week, 12 months in a year, bla bla bla. I'm not doing it to teach that--that's a very big thing to grasp.
I mark events on our calendar--like gym class, birthdays, special activities--and we count down to how many days until... The children are learning the days of the week and they're learning the months of the year. They are practicing counting. I even ask them what we did yesterday if the previous day was a big event. I usually would have a picture on the previous day to help them remember. Example, on a Wednesday we had gym with our new gym teacher--so I had a picture of him and the kids told me "yesterday we met our new gym teacher!"
I know that children this young don't understand entirely, but it's a skill that they need throughout life. Is there anything wrong with doing it? I don't have kids acting out--they enjoy it because I ask the children to put the date on the calendar, use the teacher pointer to point as we count as a group, move our day of the week marker... they run it now, and they do well with it.
I guess I'm asking because my co-teacher is giving me trouble about it. She thinks we shouldn't do it, that it is a waste of time. What are your thoughts?
I mark events on our calendar--like gym class, birthdays, special activities--and we count down to how many days until... The children are learning the days of the week and they're learning the months of the year. They are practicing counting. I even ask them what we did yesterday if the previous day was a big event. I usually would have a picture on the previous day to help them remember. Example, on a Wednesday we had gym with our new gym teacher--so I had a picture of him and the kids told me "yesterday we met our new gym teacher!"
I know that children this young don't understand entirely, but it's a skill that they need throughout life. Is there anything wrong with doing it? I don't have kids acting out--they enjoy it because I ask the children to put the date on the calendar, use the teacher pointer to point as we count as a group, move our day of the week marker... they run it now, and they do well with it.
I guess I'm asking because my co-teacher is giving me trouble about it. She thinks we shouldn't do it, that it is a waste of time. What are your thoughts?