How to teach a child to determine the time by the clock

A child is about to go to school and can't tell the time by the clock? Find out at what age it will be easier for him to master this skill and how to make learning bright, exciting and interesting so that he wants to do it himself.

At What Age Should You Teach Your Child to Set Time?

It is possible to teach a child to determine the time by the clock when he understands the meaning of the concepts of “yesterday”, “today”, “tomorrow” and when he knows two-digit numbers, knows how to count in the range of 30-60. If we talk about age, then children can own such skills in 4-5 years, and someone will be ready for training no earlier than 6.

How to prepare for training

If you decide to teach your child to determine the time by the clock, you will have to be patient and prepare. First you need to understand the categories of time: present, past, future. And this is best helped by joint games.

The task of such games is to show the child how time passes and that it is an integral and very important part of our life. And also explain why you need to understand the time yourself, to come up with motivation so that the child wants to learn by himself. For example, not to be late when friends call for a holiday.

To begin with, it is worth talking about the cyclical nature of time: in a day there is day and night, a week is 7 days, a month is 4 weeks, and a year is 12 months. To make it easier for the child to understand the pattern, try to depict the year together in the form of a drawing. For example, 1 day is 1 round. 7 circles is a week that can be rounded with one large oval. 4 such ovals will be a month, etc. Since children of preschool age are dominated by visual-figurative thinking, it is easier for them to perceive information using visualizations.

Exercise

What next?

Ask your child to write their day on paper. For example, he wakes up in the morning, washes, eats breakfast and walks. Ask them to tell you what they are doing and what time of day.

When someone sleeps

For example, we can call animals that sleep during the day and hunt at night and vice versa, those that are active only during the day.

What you were/was before

Watch the family album together, where he was born and how he grew up. After several such views, you can ask him to spread the photos by years to the present time.

We're making a watch trainer.

Now it is time to consolidate knowledge and develop skills. We suggest that you and your child make their own watch simulator. Look for old unnecessary watches as we'll need a dial. Just remove the glass and the simulator is ready to use. If the old watch is not found, you can make a dial with your own hands. For example, from cardboard or plastic plate:

1. If you use cardboard, cut a circle out of it.
2. Make two arrows – small and large. Colored cardboard will do that.
3. Puncture a circle in the middle and fix the arrows so that they remain mobile. You can use a thread and button of medium size.
4. Put the numbers on the canvas and your simulator is ready!

Tip: so that homemade watches do not fail quickly, you can laminate the dial with transparent tape.

Sequence of learning

Now we can move on to learning. Start with the arrows. You need to explain to the child what the big and small arrows are responsible for, in which direction they are moving. To do this, move the small hand around the clock and call the time it shows. First, teach your child to navigate the clock without minutes.

For the minute hand, you can take the interval of 5 minutes, and gradually adding 5 minutes, also name the time that is obtained.

How to explain to a child how much time it is: “half the first” or “the twelfth hour is coming”?

We adults often use concepts of time that are incomprehensible to the child. It’s hard for kids to understand why 12:30 is half the first, not the first and a half – 13:30. Or "the twelfth hour is coming," what does that mean?

In order to teach your child to understand your “temporary language”, you need to “transfer” your concepts of time to ordinary everyday situations. Take the apple and cut into two halves. Say, “Let’s say you’re twelve hours and you’re half an apple.” And that's my half. You have a piece of apple, so you are twelve and a half. The next hour it is my turn to eat an apple.”

With the “going twelfth hour” can be solved by connecting the imagination. For example, ask the child to imagine himself as a small arrow, which moves slowly from 11 to 12, thanks to the help of a running marathon runner (big arrow), who “winds” the circles faster. The marathoner is running, the twelfth hour is approaching.

What else to do so that the child quickly learns to determine the time itself

In addition to training on toy watches, be sure to pay attention to a real watch. Watch which arrow moves faster, how many revolutions the second, minute hand should make, until an hour passes.

You can also discuss various interesting facts about time. For example, in ancient times, people determined time by the movement of the sun and stars, that our planet has different time zones and when you have day, in other countries it may be night, why people know what time it is, etc.

Even with preschoolers and younger schoolchildren, you can read and learn poems about time. With the help of rhymed lines, the child will quickly understand in seconds, minutes and hours.

Remember, the main thing in the process of teaching a child something is the regularity of classes. Even if you play with a homemade clock two to three times a week for 15 to 20 minutes, your child will definitely learn how to determine the time yourself. Well, if you do not have enough time for regular classes, then enroll your son or daughter in our mathematics course. We will teach your child to count and determine the time by the clock.