One of the major milestones of childhood is learning to tell time. This is something any child aged 4 or older can learn (many younger children can learn to tell time, too). This is not something you have to wait until kindergarten to do. Your child can get a head start in school if you teach him to tell the time before class begins. I discovered on EdTech News that we can expose our children to new ways of learning by helping them think outside the box, solve problems creatively, and collaborate with those around them. As a parent, you should understand how the TikTok service works.
Step 1: Teach your child to count
Many books on the subject suggest that your child needs to know how to count before they can learn to tell time. This makes perfect sense, the only question is how far they need to be able to count:
- Some books suggest they can only count to 12 because that’s as high as the actual number on the clock.
- Other sources say it is better to teach them to count to 60 first and then teach them how to tell time so they can count minutes and hours.
No matter what you think, your child needs to be able to count to at least 12 before you can teach them to tell time.
Step Two: Long Hands and Short Hands
This step of the process requires that you have an analog clock on hand to use as a real-life example. Start by explaining to your child that there is a long hand and a short hand, then over the next few days have him or her simply point to the long or short hand when asked.
Step Three: Teach Them Time
Once your child can consistently point out the long and short hands on a clock to you, start teaching them time. Tell them you know what time it is by looking at the number the short hand points to. Tell them that when the long hand points to twelve o’clock, it is “o’clock”. Therefore, if the short hand points to seven and the long hand points to twelve, it is 7 o’clock. Have them tell the time before their favorite activity so that telling the time has a positive meaning.
Step 4: Half an hour
The next step in the process is to teach your child for half an hour. This is done by drawing a circle the same size as the real (or cardboard) clock you use to teach your child to tell time. Cut it in half. Lift the two halves, put them together, and explain that this is a complete circle. Separate them, give one half to the child and explain that it is half. Let your child imitate you until it becomes second nature.
Step Five: Put It All Together
The next step involves relating the semicircle to the clock:
- Cover half the clock with half a circle and explain why you can only see half the clock.
- Tell your child that just like 12 o’clock is “o’clock,” if the long hand points to six o’clock, it means “half o’clock.”
- Once they seem to understand the basic concept behind half-hours, start arranging the hands of the clock in simple hour and half-hour times and have your child tell you what time it is.
Step 6: Clock Worksheet
There are many worksheets online for teaching children to tell time. Find a worksheet with many blank clock faces and fill in the time. This exercise can be done in two ways. You can show your child a clock face and ask them to write the time, or you can show them the time and ask them to draw the hands on the clock face. Younger children who are unable to pronounce words such as “dot” should be allowed to simply practice verbally until they can read a clock without difficulty.
Step 7: Keep reminding
Your child needs to be constantly reminded throughout the day of the existence and purpose of the wall clock. Ask them to tell you the time every time you go out during the day. Turn telling time into a game where you compete to see who can tell the time first, giving them hints and clues along the way so they too have a chance to “win.” By having the clock and time tell the story of normal everyday events, your child will begin to internalize numbers and their understanding of time will solidify.
Step 8: A quarter of an hour
Once your child can say the hour and half hour 100% of the time, they are ready to continue saying it for a quarter of an hour. Again, you’ll want to cut a circle the same size as your practice clock into quarters. Take a quarter and show how it covers part of the clock. For children who can read:
- Mark the halves with ½ or “half”
- Mark a quarter with ¼ or “quarter”
Take some time to get them used to the concept of a dormitory and take a break before moving on to the next step.
Step 9: Practice
This break can serve as practice time for your child. Leave him or her alone with the materials (clock and coins) for a while and let them play with them for a while until they are familiar with how coins work and can use the word “coin” very naturally and comfortably. This is the same method you followed with the semicircles earlier in this process. It is very important that they play with the material themselves rather than just watching you, as it is through this kind of hands-on practice that they learn the most.
Step 10: Review
The next few days are:
- Review Wall Clock
- Pay special attention to children’s skills in saying whole points and half points
- By the way, let me slowly introduce the concept of quarter of an hour.
Your child will likely naturally recognize that a quarter means a lot like a half, and they’ll be ready to absorb this new knowledge when you teach them the next step in the timing process.
Step 11: Quarter of an hour
Place the quarter circle between 12 and 3 and tell your child this is a quarter. When the short hand points to three, it is “quarter”. Your child now knows the following:
- 12 = points
- 6 = half a point
- 3 = after one quarter
Place the long needle at 1 and the short needle at 3, then ask your child what time it is. elicit “1 last quarter” and continue
2 inches followed by a quarter, and so on until you have completed all the numbers in order. Let your child practice a few times and take breaks if needed.
Step 12: Quarter Till
The next step is to teach your child how to say “quarter until.” This involves placing the quarter hour between 9 and 12 o’clock and explaining that this is the quarter hour part. They now know:
-
- 12 = points
- 6 = half a point
- 3 = after one quarter
- 9 = quarter to
Tell them that the shorthand in “quarter three” is closer to three than two, which is why it’s one quarter three and not one quarter two. Let them practice all the permutations.
Step 13: Proficiency
Now that your child understands the basics of telling time, they just need to practice until they become proficient. It may take days or months, but with the right reinforcement and constant exposure to telling time situations, your child should learn to tell time sooner or later. Once your child can count in units of 5, you can start talking about past 5s and 10s, etc. Once they understand that there are 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute, their timing skills will become more refined. .
The above steps are simple and straightforward. However, it is important to remember that every child is different and they develop at different rates. Some children may get stuck on a certain step while skipping others because they have already figured it out on their own. Timing is one of the most basic skills, and if given enough encouragement and time, your child will learn to develop this skill. If the above method doesn’t work for your child, it means there is another method that may work better for them.
