Why Calendars and Planners are Confusing
Do you ever wonder why your dyscalculic student doesn't spend much time looking at the calendar to see what is scheduled? Or why your students doesn’t like to use a planner to organize their schoolwork?
It's likely because calendars and planners were not set up for the dyscalculic mind. They don't provide a helpful visual for dyscalculics to understand and organize time.
My own dyscalculic daughter often asked me when something was going to happen, yet she would never check the large family calendar in the kitchen. Later she told me the calendar was stressful and confusing.
Initially, I found this difficult to understand How could something that I found so helpful in organizing my life, be a cause for stress and anxiety for her? Yet, she is not alone. We have since learned that many other dyscalculic students and adults share this same experience.
Here are some reasons calendars are complicated for dyscalculic individuals:
The grid setup is not intuitive to them. In which direction does one move through the boxes, side to side, top to bottom?
If one is baffled by numbers, they will not be drawn to something covered in numbers. Especially the modern calendars with extra large numbers.
It assumes an understanding of numerical groups which represent time. But the amount of days in each month are sometimes different from one month to the next. There are 7 days in a week, but each numbered day does not correspond to the same day each month. It's hard to understand the various groupings of numbers.
The inability to subitize makes it complicated to quickly read a calendar. They cannot quickly see how many days are in a line. And the two-day weekend is hard to see. This also makes it difficult to know which day is the middle of the week.
Remembering the corresponding number for each month is difficult. How are they supposed to find the date 4/20/25 when they don't know which month is "4"? Not to mention the confusion over which number in that sequence is the month, day, or year.
Planners are often too visually busy. They may be full of extra "fun" designs, characters, boxes to fill in, that cause too much visual noise for the dyscalculic. It only further complicates an already confusing concept.
With all these considerations, it's time we asked, "What would a helpful calendar or planner look like for the dyscalculic mind? How can we make something that better fits how they experience time?"
Student-Created Calendar/Planner
Over a year ago my daughter modified a calendar so it would make more sense to her. I shared it with you all and many of you purchased it and shared how helpful it was. You also asked when the updated one would be available, so I'm happy to tell you, it's ready!
Here is how her calendar differs from traditional calendars:
There is plenty of white space, offering a less visually-noisy experience.
There is clear delineation between the groups of weekdays, weekends, and each week separately.
Each month's name corresponds with its number at the top of the page.
It's spread over two pages to allow more space to write. (This is the new update from the last one!)
The numbers are small and less overwhelming.
Check out this calendar and let us know what you think! Consider purchasing and downloading this for yourself or the dyscalculic student in your life. As the creator, my daughter receives all proceeds from the sales.
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