Talk

Flip

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

Games/ techniques for learning to tell the time

6 replies

squashpie · 14/03/2011 13:47

DS is having trouble with such questions as. It is 11.30. You will be having your lunch at 12.30. How long will it be until your lunchtime (I haven't written that very well!). He has trouble recognizing what an hour on from the half hour would be. We have the Orchard Tell the Time game but it doesn't really help with those sorts of problems.

Can anyone recognize any other sort of board game/ ways I can explain it to him, so that he understands the concept of time? Thank you

OP posts:

Report

smee · 14/03/2011 14:51

Maybe make a cardboard clock with moveable hands? Or I think you can buy them quite easily. We've just done it as DS wanted a watch, but I said he couldn't have one until he could tell the time. I just moved the hands to different times or asked him to move the hands. We did a few every night as a game. He soon got it.

Report

OffToNarnia · 14/03/2011 15:17

It would depend how old he was to whether it was really an issue in my opinion. My ds is in year 1 and is almost 'there' with time with very little effort from me as they are teaching it at school! I think he would need prompting to get the answer to your question right, but at 5 I don't think an issue. How old is your ds?

Report

Dukeleto · 14/03/2011 19:57

I did an awesome activity with a Reception child recently, not interested in numbers, sitting down with worksheets or even talking about it at all, but quite keen on trains. (who isn't?!?)

We laid out a little Brio track with a couple of stations, and I told him what time Thomas, James, etc. were scheduled to depart. I then held up the toy clock, and moved the hands, fairly slowly, around the face. It took no time at all before he had the trains running on time!

In the end, it even worked the other way round, with him telling me a "departure time" and then setting the clock to show me it.

I know, I'm a genius, you can all thank me later ;-)

Report

Dukeleto · 14/03/2011 19:59

Oh I should probably add, we did :00, :30 and eventually :15 examples.

Report

brabbinsandfyffe · 15/03/2011 10:47

this clock face is handy, you can adjust it yourself. Also oswego has some helpful time games he might like (scroll down)

Report

squashpie · 15/03/2011 11:45

Thanks everyone for your responses. Brabbinsandfyffe those websites are fantastic. I've got lots of methods to try now !