The days of the week written on a calendar provide a useful tool for teachers during phonics instruction. The teacher can point to the letters and ask children to name each one. When working on initial sounds, the teacher can point to the first letter of each day of the week and call on children to say the sound associated with that letter.
Kindergarten teachers can highlight special days of the month during specific instructional units. Each month of the school year features a holiday or a birthday commemoration of someone famous in history. Social studies can be emphasized on President's Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Thanksgiving can be included in a unit on fall while Easter and St. Patrick's Day can be featured in the spring.
Calendars are used mainly to teach and reinforce math skills. Many of these skills can be practiced every day. Students can count by ones, fives and tens. They can learn patterns either by pictures or letter. For example, each day in September may be represented by a rake or jacket. Students recite the pattern, rake-jacket, and also learn to rename this pattern by letter, A-B.
The calendar is also a useful learning tool for science concepts, especially during a unit on the weather. Teachers use pictures of clouds, sun, rain, snow or ice to represent each day's weather. Children can take turns being the weatherperson, looking out the window and determining the weather for the day. Teachers can extend the lesson by reading about types of precipitation, the water cycle and tornadoes and hurricanes.