To expect a 15yo NT child to be able to tell the time?

[clary]

Just that really. Teenager I was talking to today got out phone to see what the time was - I pointed out a nearby clock - "I can't read that" by which he meant not that he needed glasses, but that he didn't know how to tell the time on an analogue clock.

I was really shocked - is this usual? Are we, thanks to mobile phones and their ubiquity, moving to a time when young people will only understand a digital clock? And does that in fact matter?

[Imi22sleeping]

I child minding a 5 and a 7 year old they have no idea about the clock I try and teach them but they get annoyed . I don't know if they are taught at school? I'm dyslexic and could tell time on a clock face by the time I was three

[clary]

dertiebertie do you mean my comment would have made the 15yo feel bad? I didn't say anything rude to him, I was telling him to put his phone away is all (I am a teacher so I am allowed to do that )

I didn't go round the class asking who else couldn't tell the time if that's what you're thinking.

He is NT as it goes, ie has no diagnosed SEN, but I may flag up possible dyslexia as he is presenting as weak (whereas it may just be that he cannot access the work IYSWIM). So this thread has been useful, thanks all :)

dragonlette that's a brilliant idea re the intervention!

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

My D.D is also 15 and can't tell the time either. I've never made a big deal out of it TBH.
She sees the time on her phone. A lot of her friends can't tell the time either. I would say it's quite common place being raised in a technical world.

[ancientbuchanan]

In a car, the easy way is to say " my side, your side".

There is an excellent book, old now but still good, for adults on dyscalculia, called Sum Hope, by Steve Chinn of Mark College. He's a nice person. I lent it to a friend who just didn't understand why his son was struggling, the friend was so transfixed that he read it all night through, scales dropped from eyes, and contacted Steve Chinn, who got back to him within 36 hours despite being a busy head teacher. A very happy ending for a perplexed Ds and DF.

[MsAspreyDiamonds]

The way I was taught to tell apart my left from my right was to focus on my writing hand. I am left handed so I was taught that first & then the right hand ifyswim.

[unlucky83]

I was thinking about this...can all of us analogue clock/watch readers read a sundial? (At least one with no markings, accurately)
Maybe some of it lack of practice and necessity and just digital is more convenient/easier - technology has moved on.
I use an analogue watch and wear it constantly- never take it off unless it is broken/battery flat. I then realise how often I do look at it (empty wrist!) I really really miss it) and it still takes me a few milliseconds longer to tell the time with it than a digital display. And sometimes I use my phone if I am bothered about being to the last minute...ie we have 2 minutes to get to the train etc -it is just easier...
Maybe analogue clocks are going the way of the sundial....

[sashh]

I have one question though. Those of you who can only read digital displays, or know someone who can only do this, do you also struggle with 24hour/military time?

No it is more logical to use 24 hours, and as someone who got a digital watch as soon as they were available I have used 24hr as much as 12hr, and I don't get the 'is it 9 or 3' I get with analogue.

[Marcelinewhyareyousomean]

I think I may be dyscalculic and I never knew it was a thing.

I can budget and tell the larger number however I can't:
Tell time using and analogue clock;
Have no idea about spacial awareness or able to gauge distance;
Don't know my left from my right;
Misname things with something similar.

[Marcelinewhyareyousomean]

I'm like speed; can't tell time and don't know my left from right. Ds spent may hours with his shoes on the wrong feet.

I can work out the maths and understand roman numerals. Time is checked on my mobile.

[speedbird17]

DiddlyBiddly that is scary! I tell DH to follow my hands not my mouth .. I can't be trusted to not call both directions left, and when I point it's correct!!

When I do the 'L' shapes with my hands they both look like the letter L unless I think hard about it!

[ElkTheory]

I have noticed that some of my university students struggle to tell the time. The only reason I'm even aware of this fact is that I teach a foreign language and we cover time expressions. When presented with an analogue clock, some students have difficulty telling the time.

A year or so ago it dawned on me that most of my students don't wear wristwatches. They all use their phones instead. I don't think anything has ever made me feel so old.

[duchesse]

Ah, only 10mn at a time? Makes more sense. Revisiting weekly would make a lot of sense with pupils really struggling with it.

[Dragonlette]

Duchesse it seems like overkill doesn't it. For some of them it is, for others, they just need the practice and little and often gets it through to them in a way that one longer session wouldn't. The sessions are only 10 mins long though.

[DiddlyBiddly]

Speedbird DP gets quite cross, I shouted at him for missing the turning on the right. Poor chap was absolutely bewildered, seeing as I'd told him to go left

I have to tell people to follow my hands not my voice

[IgnoreMeEveryOtherFuckerDoes]

I honestly don't think its a biggie as we live in such a digital world, DD 17 struggles with analogy clocks it takes her a while to master out yet she is excellent time keeper

[speedbird17]

DiddlyBiddly are you my twin? Pointing right and saying left is some big that drives DH insane...

[duchesse]

Dragon - 6 sessions to teach NT 15 yo how to tell the time?

[Dragonlette]

I'm a maths teacher and it came to our attention last year that we had a number of pupils in year 10 and 11 who were not able to tell the time. We now do a very short test at the start of year 10 and put on an intervention group during registration. There are 7 NT pupils (out of 200ish) in our current year 10 who are attending once a week for about 6 weeks. So there's not many who can't, but more than we thought.

[DiddlyBiddly]

unlucky That's what I have to do. Constantly

[Pipbin]

I find analogue clocks easier to understand. Especially as you can see how far through the hour you are. It's easier to add to as well.

[unlucky83]

Left and right confusion - put both hands in front of you, backs facing upwards, finger together - move thumb down - so they make a capital L shape - the L (right way round) is your left...
I did it a slightly differently with my DCs but harder to describe...basically anyway you can make a L shape with your thumb - except palms up! - works ...

[shakemysilliesout]

I finally got clocks in yr 6/7 aged 11ish. Wasn't easy.

Interestingly another issue is the way we express time like quarter to 5 or half past. In Germany instead of half past 5 they say half to 6- which causes confusion and in some American states they say quarter of instead of quarter to. So you can understand clocks and time and still be screwed internationally!

[HappyAmbler]

This is a really interesting thread! My dh, who can't tell the time, gets right and left mixed up very frequently (not helpful when I'm driving and he's giving directions!)

[DiddlyBiddly]

Oh also struggle with left and right. When giving directions I will regularly say left but point right

[DiddlyBiddly]

I'm another who struggles to tell the time, though an otherwise fairly academic, including A Level Maths!

I can read analogue clocks, but like someone up thread said, I have to look and think, I don't just 'get it'.

My personal theory is that it makes less sense to children now, as they're used to metric measurements, rather than imperial, and it doesn't fit into 100 easily, whereas feet/inches etc on a 12 base are more closely related.