getting schooled (secretly)

there are lots of ways that i fail in the realm of being organized and well-planned.

(although i am improving as the years go on! and somehow, i feel, maybe mistakenly,  that having a deaf daughter forced me to be more organized than i am in my natural state. here's to having it really together by the time i'm 80...)

i do, however, like to steal tips from others as often as possible, whether it's via pinterest, or strangers, or friends. my friend katie has for a long time put a large calendar up in her kitchen for her two girls to keep track of their schedule. one of her daughters has hearing loss like m, so they often have appointments, therapy and school throughout the week.

i started doing the same in june, and my girls have come to love it. every month we take down the last calendar off of their wall, and work on writing up a new one for the month together. 

there are so many skills we use when we make our calendar, and they are the same ones we practice when we use it throughout the month. we sound out the month's name, and figure out how it should be spelled. we say the days of the week in order, and m helps find certain letters or guess how the day should be spelled. as i write the dates, we count the numbers together.

one of my favorite tools is to use washi tape to mark events that happen over multiple days. i use the same tape for m's days at school, for instance, so anytime she sees that tape she knows she has school. you can buy washi tape lots of places, including on etsy, or even target. (i tend to use my target brand tape-pictured- on the calendar because it's only $4 for 4 rolls, and save my better tape for other projects)

 sometimes m adds in little pictures on certain dates, like on the ones when she has a playdate (or wants to!)

it really helps as a visual; instead of asking me 8 hundred times when we are doing something we can find it on the calendar and then they can go back and count the days themselves. i think it also builds a sense of anticipation for them when a special adventure is coming up.

 sometimes i write down quotes that the girls say during the day:

at the end of the day (or sometimes the next morning if it's been busy), we cross out the day and then practice numbers by counting all the x's and then guessing what the date will be tomorrow. sometimes if they are into it, we chant through the days of the week for them to practice them or spell the month. (of course they don't realize that i am having them practice their numbers, predicting skills and days of the week or alphabet, because they think it's just a fun activity.)

 it's so funny, but my girls love this visual up in their room. they are so into it they often want me to add on things we've done after they've happened. it takes me almost no time, and yet seems to help our girls understand a lot of concepts, plus it's an activity we can do together even though ruby is younger. so if your kid asks you a million times if tomorrow is school or how soon until you go to the park or grandparents, rock one of these in your house!

any other easy parenting/organizing tips you want to throw my way? 

 plus, since it's friday

an oldie 

(of when little m really WAS little, way back in 2008)

 and a goodie

of my ruby-girl dancing on our bed

happy weekend!