Graphing or charting dates
 

I'm creating a spreadsheet to date when a preschooler reaches a certain
'benchmark,' according to our state education standards. I have listed
vertically the standards and horizontally I have the students' names listed.
I will add the date they achieve the benchmark/standard.

I would like to create a chart or graph to show when the students reached
the benchmarks broken down into the school year's quarters. For example, 4
children reached benchmarks for Language Arts in the 1st qtr (Sep-Nov), 7
children reached the Language Arts benchmarks in the 2nd qtr (Dec-Feb), etc.

How do I chart dates and, also, how can TOTAL the number for each qtr (4 in
the 1st, 7 in the 2nd, etc)? Also, can I tag the benchmarks in each qtr on
the graph with the student's initials or something else that will quickly
show me the student's names/initials of who reached the benchmarks in the
1st, etc?