It is Time to talk about Time with your kids!

Supporting your child at home as he/she learns how to tell time.

Your child is beginning or will soon begin a unit on time in his/her classroom.  In first grade, the expectation is for students to be able to tell time to the half hour and hour.  In second grade, the expectation is for students to be able to tell time to the 5-minute using an analog and a digital clock.  In third grade and up, the expectation is to be able to solve problems involving elapsed time.

Telling time is a skill everyone needs.  Below are some tips on how you can easily help your child with this skill.

·       Have your child practice counting to 60.  If you have an analog clock at home, have your child point to the minute intervals as he or she counts.  They should start at the 12 and count clockwise (to the right).

·       Have your child practice counting by 5s.  If you have an analog clock at home, have your child point to the five minute intervals (5, 10, 15…) as he or she counts.  They should start at the 12 and count clockwise (to the right).

·       Ask your child to tell you the time: how many minutes is it after _________?

·       Share your strategies – explain to your child how you tell time.

·       Use the terminology around your child as much as possible.  The more your child can hear the various terminology, and practice saying the vocabulary in his/her everyday life, the quicker he/she will be able to internalize this skill.

o   “Dinner will be at six – thirty or half-past six”; “I will pick you up at a quarter after five or five-fifteen”; “your show will start at six forty-five or a quarter to six”

·       Use a timer to show your child how long 15 minutes is, for example.  Sensing time intervals is a difficult concept for children to understand.  How long is 30 minutes compared to 15 minutes?  Setting a timer while your child completes two activities that take a different amount of time will help him/her to start grasping this concept.

·       Review part of the clock.  Point out to your child which hand is the hour hand vs the minute hand.  Practice the strategies your child learns at school as much as possible.

o   Point to the short hand and tell students that this hand is the hour hand. This is the hand that tells you the hour of the day. Tell them they can remember the hour hand by remembering that it’s the short hand.

o   Point to the long hand and tell students that this hand is the minute hand. This is the hand that tells you how many minutes have passed in an hour. Tell them they can remember the minute hand by remembering that it’s the long hand

·       Computer games and apps.  There are many free apps and computer games where your child can practice telling-time skills in fun ways.   Below are a few suggestion:

o   Jungle Time – app

o   Wake the Rooster by Telling time: Tiny Chicken – app

o   http://www.squidoo.com/telling-time-games - This web-site has a list of fun internet games that teach and/or review time skills.