Where Did That Calendar Come From?

Every time I post a picture of our pocket calendar (see the Back To School post), or if someone comes over for a play date (even a plumber once asked me about it), I get asked, “Where did you get that great calendar?”  I know, it totally rocks, doesn’t it?  I asked my friend Emmy the same thing when I saw her post a picture of it on her private blog a few years ago!  My mother thought I was nuts when I told her that’s what she should get the kids for Christmas that year, but they’ve enjoyed it every single day since.

Since I’m getting asked about it again, I thought I’d post about it.  It’s called the Learning Resources Calendar and Weather Pocket Chart and you can get it on Amazon and please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate, which means that if you click on this link and buy it, I might get an infinitesimally small percentage.  In nearly two years of being an affiliate, thus far I have not received a single check from anything y’all have purchased via any links clicked.  One day I hope to earn enough to buy a Diet Coke, mama needs her caffeine.

Or you can buy it at Rainbow Resources.  It’s listed for slightly less there, but once you add shipping, I think it works out to the same or slightly more than at Amazon since you can often get free shipping at Amazon.

In addition to the fact that the calendar is bright and offers all kinds of educational value(learning months, dates, days of the week, seasons, weather, holidays, etc.) we keep learning more things you can do with this calendar.  For example, I went to the local scrapbooking store and bought clear acetate sheets and cut squares approximately the same size as the squares with the date numbers, and stickers that correspond with weekly events and special events and I now put those into the pockets for the corresponding dates.  For example, the kids participate in choir, so I put musical notes on a clear square and I put that acetate square on the day of the week they have choir practice and also whenever they have  a performance.  Although the calendar comes with blank white squares so you can create these types of things, what I like about the acetate squares is you can still see the number, and also if you have multiple events on the same day (a common occurrence) you can see all of them.  An example of a special event is that I have a square with a pumpkin on it, which I use to show that we will be going to a pumpkin patch — something we do several times in October.  (And yes, I promise, I’m going to be putting up an updated version of the Fall Fun Guide soon!)  Seeing the upcoming fun events on the calendar helps build their excitement, but also encourages a bit of math — counting the number of days until an event, or the number of days between events, etc.

I have traveled a lot (relatively speaking) over the past year and a half due to my role as the Junior League President, so I used some of these squares to put a sticker with an airplane headed in one direction (outbound) and an airplane headed in the opposite direction (returning home).  Putting these squares on the days I’m leaving town and returning helps the kids prepare for me leaving for a trip and and also let’s them know exactly when I’ll return.  We add to this by looking up my destination on a map that we have up on a wall in JavaBoy’s room.  The kids never seem to have issues with me leaving for trips and I’m hoping it is because of this system.  That or they just don’t love me. (I joke, I joke.)  I think this is particularly helpful for JavaGirl who seems to need to repeat things over and over and have a lot of upfront preparation for big events.

There are lots of cute cardboard cut outs that come with the calendar to mark holidays, birthday parties, days when school is out, a big tooth which I use either for a dental appointment or for when a child looses a tooth, field trips and more.  Thankfully they designed the calendar to have pockets WITH VELCRO CLOSURES to store all these pieces.   We haven’t lost a single piece — which is either a miracle or a testament to the great design of the product.

I also sometimes will fold up a paper from school and stick it in the pocket  for a date to remind me if there is something that needs to be brought in or done for a particular day, i.e. if there is a Crazy Hair Day for school, I’ll put the flyer for that day into the pocket for that day so I’ll remember. (“Hmm, what’s this piece of paper?  Oh my, you need to have blue hair tomorrow!”)

Our front door is painted metal so I found strong magnetic hooks (I am pretty sure I found them at Michaels) and they have held the calendar in place for a couple of years now.  You have to be sure the hooks can hold something heavy, your average fridge door magnet will be too weak.

Now, you may not want a large Calendar and Weather Pocket Chart in primary colors on your front door.  Unlike me, your house may not look like it’s been decorated by Fisher Price.  I have a friend who has a gorgeous, tastefully decorated home who has hidden her identical calendar (yes, she ordered it after seeing mine) in her mud room.   This is where her kids put on and take off shoes every day, so they have access to the calendar every single day and yet she doesn’t have to compromise her sense of taste.  So there are options for everyone.

Let me know if you end up ordering one!  And tell me how you end up using it!