time-telling techniques?

[azziesmom]

in general any good/fun teaching suggests?

[milehighmonkeys]

We usually talk about when things happen and make note of the time then. I don't know that it's any more fun, but it seems to have meaning. We also avoid digital time telling. It's easier, but there are places that don't have digital clocks. Our pool is one such example. Our rec center only has analog clocks as well.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

We're starting with the minute hand, just learning how the hand moves and getting a general idea of the passage of time. We're not paying much attention to the hour hand just yet (DD is 3.5 and just learned her numbers to 12). We also moved the kitchen clock down lower so we could point to it.

"The big hand is on the 9" (point to the big hand). "When the big hand is on the 12" (point to 12) "the french fries will be done."

Also pointing out the various times of day, e.g. "Look, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 8." (Point to each). "Its 8 o clock. Its time to put pajamas on."

That sort of thing. Seems to work better to tie it to real life experiences than use, say, a practice clock or worksheets or pictures of clocks. At least, for now.

[x&lmama]

There are many great picture books on telling time. One that comes to mind is "Time To..." by Bruce McMillian. Even Maisy has a telling time book. Time is such a hard concept to get across.

[karne]

There are big learning to tell time clocks that you can buy that are a great visual aide. My 6 y/o likes it. However, for dd, she really "got" the whole time-telling thing when she mastered multiplication, which was interesting. She got 5x6=30, which is half an hour, etc. It was a neat process.

[Alyantavid]

We avoid digital clocks too. My 6 year old has the hours down and has for some time. The minute hand is basically lost on him though. He sort of gets when its at 6, its whatever-thirty. But he still thinks as long as the hour hand points at an actual number, its that time. Like if its pointing at 7 even though its 7:50, he'll still say its 7.

[AllisonR]

Originally Posted by BellinghamCrunchie

"The big hand is on the 9" (point to the big hand). "When the big hand is on the 12" (point to 12) "the french fries will be done."

I do this too! Ds loves to help me cook. He also likes clocks. When I ask him to find out what time it is, he runs to the computer and opens the date and time control panel. (You can set it to analog as well.) He has the hour down, and is starting to understand "quarter after, quarter to."

Someone bought us a plastic clock that tells you the time when you move the hands. It was interesting for all of five minutes. Plus it is in Danish, which is numerically inane. For example, in english you say "six forty", but in danish you say "ten minutes over half seven" for the exact same time. Looney.