Struggling with telling time?

[Dmmetler]

My DD has whipped through Singapore 1A/1B since we started homeschooling a month ago-but we just got to the estimated time section in 1B, and she just plain doesn't get it. It's not even telling minutes that's the problem, but figuring out which HOUR the hand is closest to. And looking back at the placement test, this is one of the only things she missed on the 1B test (the main reason for doing 1A/1B is that I wanted her to get the strategies and at least be aware of them, since she was coming from Saxon).

 

I should add that this is a kid who is adding/subtracting roman numerals, doing multi-digit multiplication and division mentally, and playing with algebraic concepts. I don't think of her as "mathy", mostly because math isn't her strongest area, but she's not a typical 5 yr old when it comes to math concepts, either.

 

I'm getting frustrated, she's getting frustrated, and she's getting into that "mental block, I'll never be able to do it" state.

 

Would it be so bad to go on, and figure that she'll get it eventually?

 

Also, does anyone have any suggestions? I can't figure out why, for a child for whom math tends to be easy, this seems to be so hard?

Edited June 25, 2010 by Dmmetler2

[nmoira]

I probably take far longer than necessary, but we start without a minute hand...

 

"Now we're at the beginning of the one o'clock hour and moving towards two, moving towards two. Are we there yet? Nope... still moving towards two. Are we there yet? Yet? Yet?" Eventually child gets very excited and says, "Yes!" Do this a few times over a few days. Then practice: "What hour are we in?" [something o'clock] "Does it look like the hour just started, or is it almost over?" "Hmmm, now it looks like it's about halfway done. What do you think?" "Can you make the hand move so that an hour's almost done?" etc.

 

Then I introduce am/pm. And start asking simple addition and subtractions questions (not crossing the 12).

 

During this time, we explore minutes separately. e.g. jump for minute, run for a minute, hold your breath for a minute (ha!), be silent for a minute, say the word "Bob" as many times as you can in one minute, etc. Always ending with, "there are 60 minutes in an hour."

 

With DD the Younger, I made a second clock entirely for the minute hand. We used the two clocks (hour and minute) for awhile, then started to look for a simpler system. :) We worked on :15, :30/half, and :45 before consolidating the clocks.

[Guest]

My daughter was at junior high level and doing advanced algebra before she could tell time comfortably. When she was little we had a clock with huge moveable hands, a talking clock, we did pages and pages of clock stamps and drawing the hands on them. It made no difference. She couldn't tell which hand was the longer one sometimes, or remember which direction the hands moved, so she'd get mixed up between whether it was half past four or half past five.

 

In her case it was related to difficulties -- which still exist -- with left/right and general visual/spatial deficits that only became clear when she had neuropsychological testing. After OT and vision therapy she has become MUCH better at it, although it still is not second nature to her.

 

This is not to say any child who has difficulty telling time may have vision problems; and your child is still very young and in this as in all things (reading, riding a bike, etc.) kids develop at different paces, and a lag in one area may co-exist with giftedness in others. But if the time problem sits side-by-side with anything else like left-right mix-ups, persistent letter reversals, verbal mix-ups with directionality words, etc., AND if these things persist beyond around age 8 or so, that is a signal to take another look at vision or think about dyslexia.

[zaichiki]

Also, does anyone have any suggestions? I can't figure out why, for a child for whom math tends to be easy, this seems to be so hard?

 

Get a Judy clock with gears. They sell them at teacher's supply stores. I got a "big" one from rainbow resource years ago. Let her get hands on with it and take turns with you --making a time/"guessing." Just make it a game. :)

[kathkath]

this is how my 5yo learned to tell time accidentally, and I think it will help. we got her a clock for her room that has lines for minutes, as well as the numbers 5 10 15 20 all the way to 55 showing minutes as well. She has totally gotten it just by being told she can come downstairs at 3:30 or whatever. She watches that hand and has figured out how to tell time by 5s, and knows when it is x minutes til something happens, or x minutes afterwards.

[Staceyshoe]

I really like how MUS handles this. He asks the children how old they are on their 6th b-day, how old they are the day after, the month after, 6 months after, 11 months after, the day before their b-day. Of course, they are 6 years old right up until their 7th b-day. They might be closer to their 7th b-day than their 6th b-day, but they are still 6 years old until their actual b-day. (He does a much better explanation and does it while turning the hands of a clock. I think it might be in the free demos on the MUS website.)

[Garga]

MUS is great at explaining it. (see the pp--you stay 6 years old until your birthday. The time is 6:-- until it's "birthday" when it points to the 7.)

 

With that said, my son is having trouble with time, too, and he's good at math. (And I remember having a hard time learning when I was a kid as well.)

 

However, the good news is that in a lot of math programs telling-time pops up again and again in the elementary years. Back off and wait for it to roll around in the next math book and then don't pressure her about it.

 

Wait a few weeks and then start showing her what time it is as you go about your daily business. But DON'T pressure her! She has plenty of time to learn this skill. She won't need to know how to tell time in order to progress in math, so it's not like this will stop her from being able to advance.

 

(P.S. I pressured my son and it really upsets them a lot and they do start saying things like, "I'll never learn it!" and it just makes the whole issue a mountain when it should be a molehill.)

[zaichiki]

We took away/unplugged all the digital clocks in the house when dd was learning to tell time. Heh. She was forced to use the analog clocks on the walls. :)

[Jen in PA]

Telling time didn't really click for DD until just a few months ago, near the end of Singapore 4A! I just kept working on it as it came up in the text or as it came up in conversation. DS actually mastered it first just from listening to us talk about it, which only frustrated her even more. :D

[Food4Thought]

I really like the way Math Mammoth introduces time-telling. My son in MM1 is working through the clock section right now. It starts with only the hour hand - doing "o'clock" and "half-past." A few pages in, it adds the minute hand. It's really sinking in for him.

 

You could get just the Clock book from MM, since she separates out her topics.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Food4Thought
my grammar is terrible

[2smartones]

This thread makes me realize my kid isn't the only one who can't tell time! *woo-hoo!* I think I'll back off for a while and revisit it later. :D

[Dinsfamily]

Get a Judy clock with gears. They sell them at teacher's supply stores. I got a "big" one from rainbow resource years ago. Let her get hands on with it and take turns with you --making a time/"guessing." Just make it a game. :)

:iagree:My ds loves analog clocks and was motivated to learn how to tell time. However, I really think a geared clock is essential. I tried using a cheap non-geared clock, but it was confusing to him. He understood the minutes and hours, but had trouble with the hours if they weren't pointing right at the number. Once we got our geared clock and he could see how the hands worked together, problem solved.

 

I don't think I'd hold up progress in Singapore PM because of telling time. You can just work on it on the side as you move on. Does she have a clear understanding of the relationship between minutes, hours, and days? That could be an issue as well.

[In The Great White North]

However, the good news is that in a lot of math programs telling-time pops up again and again in the elementary years. Back off and wait for it to roll around in the next math book and then don't pressure her about it.

 

Wait a few weeks and then start showing her what time it is as you go about your daily business. But DON'T pressure her! She has plenty of time to learn this skill. She won't need to know how to tell time in order to progress in math, so it's not like this will stop her from being able to advance.

 

Definitely. Waldorf schools don't even introduce it til 3rd grade. It will continue to pop up in math books for years! Most of the Juniors on the swim team cannot read the clock (12 and unders) and that is a pace clock where they only use the second hand.

[melmichigan]

My DD struggled with it in SM too. I bought $2.50 geared clock from CLE math, and then an analog watch, and kept visiting it.

[Crimson Wife]

My DD had a really difficult time in her K5 year with the concept of one thing representing something else. This came up both with telling time on an analog clock and also with counting coins. She kept doing things like looking at a clock showing 1:15 and saying "1:03" or at 6 nickels and say it was worth "6 cents". In retrospect, I should've just shelved those concepts & moved on in RS B rather than "parking" on them. That would've saved me a TON of frustration. It is clear to me now that they were tasks for which she was not yet developmentally ready.

 

Poor oldest kids- they really are our guinea pigs! ;)

[WindblownIdeas]

We too had a hard time with my daughter telling time. Really had to stick with it for a long time. Shannon

[Firestar Academy]

I didn't read all the posts, but my kids took forever to tell time. I always figured it wasn't really a 'building skill' where you needed it to move on. So we just went through it once, she got every one wrong and we moved on to the next lesson. I did not make a big deal that she couldn't tell time. She is 6. most of the time, she is not responsible for knowing what time it is (the adults in her life are ).

 

When she is ready to 'own' telling time, I'm sure she will pick it up. Her older sister was in 4th before she could tell time and then it was a short lesson and BAM.

 

for me, it was not worth the battle.

BTW, my kid couldn't tie their shoes either until 4th grade.

 

Robin in NJ

[nitascool]

I don't know how you feel about computer games but my kids have really done well understanding the halfway/three quarter marks of clocks with this game...

Telling Time

 

I think it is level 3 that teaches that you have to have the hour hand halfway to get the answer correct. It's kind of a trial and error game... I suggest playing it yourself first. The upper levels get a bit hard... when you go to seconds you have to have the hour hand on just the right space (again trial and error).

 

I have to give you one warning though... it's addicting. :lol::lol:

[graciesmom]

I have just started teaching my 5 year old to tell time and I am using the Melissa and Doug wooden clock. It is very easy to show her and everything is color coded. Check it out on the internet. I know that book stores sell them as well.

[angela in ohio]

I have noticed that a lot of gifted kiddos have one concept that escapes them. For me, it is time. For my youngest, it is left from right. And so on. Most of the gifted people I have met, when I ask them about it, have one ridiculous thing that they can't get.

 

I would move on. Like a pp, I was in junior high or high school before I could comfortably and consistently tell time. I still have to pause a bit and think about it. Nothing like being in Honors Calc 3 and not being able to tell if class is almost over because time trips you up! :D