Tips for Telling Time
We often think of telling time as a single skill: reading a clock. But time on a clock is a unit of measurement. A clock is a concrete tool for measuring the passage of time, a very abstract concept. And so, as children learn to tell time, we want them to understand not just how to read a clock but also to be able to visualize the amount of time that has passed at a given time on the clock.
Here are a few simple strategies you can use at home, for a variety of age levels, to help the concept of time feel concrete to your child:
Units of Time (~ages 3-6): With a child who can't yet tell time, start by talking about the basic units of time on a clock: seconds, minutes, and hours. Make these units real for them by connecting them to real life:
"A second is as fast as a clap. Let's clap 10 times. This will take us about 10 seconds."
"A minute is 60 seconds, so 5 minutes is like counting to 60 five times. Do you want to try counting to 60 with me to see how long one minute feels?"
"10 minutes is how long it takes to watch one episode of Bluey."
"An hour is 60 minutes. So it would be like watching six episodes of Bluey."
Simple explanations like these, repeated frequently over the course of many months and years, help children make sense of how long each of these units of time actually feels.
Reading a Clock (~ages 5-9): Your child's ability to read time a clock will grow gradually over the course of many years. In kindergarten in the US, children typically learn to tell time to the nearest hour but don't learn how to tell time to the minute on an analog clock until 3rd grade.
In my experience, children can usually tell time to the minute on a digital clock much faster than on an analog clock, and once they learn to tell time on an analog clock to the nearest 5 minutes, they're pretty quickly able to figure out to the nearest minute. Here are some conversations you can have at home.
When first learning to read a clock, start with hours on digital clocks and connect the hour on the clock to your daily routine, "We usually eat snack when it's morning and there's a 9 for the hour. I see the clock still starts with 8, so it's not quite snack time yet." When they understand the hours, start adding in conversation about specific times that include minutes.
Transition to analog clocks by building on what your child already knows about digital clocks, "What time do you see on the clock on that stove? Yes, it says 10:10. Let me show you how this clock also shows 10:10." While analog clocks are much more rare than they used to be, children do still learn them in school so I like to have one at home (or use one on my phone) to help my children get some real-world practice with it.
Elapsed Time (~ages 7-10): After your child can read the time on a clock, they're ready to start talking about how much time has passed, called "elapsed time." Elapsed time word problems are often super tricky for children in school, but you can build a foundation for these word problems by talking about time passing in your daily routine.
What time will we leave? "We need to leave to go to the pool in 20 minutes. What time will the clock say when we leave?"
What time did we get here? "We've been waiting in this line for 15 minutes. What time did we get in line?"
How much time has passed? "We started watching the movie at 6:05. How long was the movie?"
Because these questions pertain to real parts of their lives, they’re more likely to be interested in the conversation. It also feels more relevant, and therefore more likely to stick.