Does that sound boring or what???! Actually, you can use a calendar to add some spice to your homeschool at the end of the winter or throughout the year.
I don’t mean just talking about what day it is. I mean planning fun little events to coincide with obscure and not-so-obscure national observances. This week, for example, is Montessori Education Week and the week to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday (yesterday was Dr. Seuss’s [would be] 107th birthday)!
You could make a special unit study or celebration for the day or week. Today, March 3, you could study Alexander Graham Bell (it’s his birthday), the U.S. National Anthem (“The Star-Spangled Banner” was adopted as the U.S. national anthem in 1931, so it’s the Star-Spangled Banner’s 80th Anniversary), or martyrs and Malawi (it’s Martyr’s Day in Malawi).
Or you could just have a fun observance every now and then. Today is also “I Want You To Be Happy Day” and “What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs Day.”
There’s a fun resource for March events at Its Own Sweet Will.neebeep.This blog has one homeschooler’s ideas for the month with lots of links and fun comments. I don’t know about you, but each March 22, I might schedule National Goof Off Day for myself!
Here are some other helpful monthly calendar resources:
Days of the Year – lots of useful and just-plain-fun information
Finding Dulcinea: Librarian of the Internet
On This Day from the New York Times Learning Network (This site has newspaper articles – for example, articles about the 1991 incident in which Rodney King was beaten by LA police officers – as well as lesson plans and other resources.)
Creative Quotations with quotations by famous people searched by month and birthday
Holidays-and-Observances.com (holidays and observances categorized in a number of different ways)
Monthly Calendar Observances from Holiday Insights
Monthly Calendars from A to Z Kids Stuff
Monthly Calendars from The Teachers Corner
Monthly Calendars from Homeschool Share
A Smiley-a-Day from Spontaneous Smiley (focuses on a specific spontaneous smiley related to the day’s calendar observance)
UPDATE: I have a Monthly Themed Activities for Kids series, which includes information from the above sites and my related posts and unit studies for the month.
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Photo Credit: “Seuss on the loose” photo by Cindy Seigle at Flickr Creative Commons
Wow, very thorough post with lots of information. Thanks for all the links and ideas.
Thanks so much, Julie! I hope you can use some of the resources for your homeschool!
What a great post! Thank you for all of the ideas! I need to look at the calendar more often! 😉
Thanks for your kind comment, Mary!
This sounds like so much fun. I never really thought of using a calendar like this. Great ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Kimberly
Thanks, Kimberly! Have a great weekend!
I’m stopping by from the “Mom Loop Comment Follow” link, and wanted to thank you for providing such great calendar resources and a list of what is being celebrated/raising awareness. Glad to have happened onto your site, will look around while I’m here!
Thanks for visiting and commenting, Frelle! I hope you find lots of resources here you can use!
Thanks for all the ideas! The one thing I am certain of is that we all need ways of encouraging ourselves to stay focused and on the ball. Encouraging ourselves by making the tedious things more fun always helps make it easier to get done. I love finding ways to spruce up my calender, I hate having things to do, so at the very least they could amuse me!
Thanks for your comment! I hope you found some ideas you can use!
Hi Deb! Thanks for featuring our spring nature tray, so nice of you. We have found more and more trees beginning to bloom. It’s very exciting to see spring on the way!
You’re welcome, Kelly – and thanks for the wonderful activities you share on your blog! How lucky that you have so many signs of spring already!
You have some wonderful ideas here! My kids LOVE celebrating all the misc “holidays”. Thanks for the list!
Thanks, Charlene! I’m happy to share the great resources I find online!
What a fun idea! This certainly would be a way to liven up some of those days of the year when things seem to creep along at a snail’s pace. Thanks for the idea!
Thanks for your comment, Angie! My family definitely loved having some celebration days just for the fun of it!
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Hey, great caledar ideas! Thanks for sharing! 🙂