Is it bad that my 8 year old dd can't tell the time yet?

[ThatDamnedBitch]

Her friend is over (friend is 7), overhead her friend saying that her dad was coming for her in 1 hour and 15 minutes. And I thought bloomin' hell her friend's time telling skills are advanced. But then got me thinking is that normal for 7/8 year olds?

DD1 can't tell the time yet at 11, but she's severely Dyslexic. And I can't remember if DSD could tell the time at that age as it was that long ago.

Also dd2 is quite a bit behind in her reading and maths too according to her teacher at parents evening. She is getting a bit of extra help in school for both. She's very capable but just seems to be behind for some reason. We do do some maths at home, she loves it when we set sums for her. But she hates doing her school reading books as she finds them very boring. It's always a battle of wills to get her to sit down and do her reading book or spellings. Yet she does like to pick up her own story books (not thick ones though) and read them.

Should I be concerned?

DD is 8 and can just about work out the o'clock and half past. I had to draw her a picture so she would know when to go to her music lesson (9.40). She's way ahead in English and maths though, just seems to not "get" the time.

So I'd not be worried about the lack of time telling per se, but perhaps it might be worth understanding more specifically how you can support her English/maths.

Children usually acquire skills according to what they are encouraged or allowed to do at home, and they will have learnt a lot of information and skills even before they start nursery or school.

I have known children in Reception get upset because they cannot cut out with a pair of scissors, yet our DS was using scissors from the age of two or three, and we gave him junk mail to cut up.

If you can find her a cheap clock in a charity shop (without dangerous glass in it) and let her play with it. She should be able to turn knobs to move the hands, and if you draw pictures of the "o-clock" positions, "half-past" etc she can match the hands to your drawing. I assume she knows and understands numbers.

I'm guessing, but I dare say there is time-telling somewhere on the BBC Cbeebies website.

It is a shame that reading is a 'battle'; have you always read to her? I see in your Profile you have read Walking Dead books. One of my favourite authors is the late Iain Banks, starting with "The Wasp Factory" which is a very scary story, that you might enjoy.

I was talking about time telling in class the other day, about 1/3 can't tell the time on an analogue clock, they are 16+.

My dd too was behind with telling the time on an analogue clock, though very ahead in all other maths. I put it down to all the clocks in our house being digital. I would advise getting a working analogue clock with clear numbers on it, putting it up in the kitchen or lounge and use it regularly for telling the time.

Rather than just sums, I would get her to do more of a variety of maths. DD used to love the Letts Mythical Maths books. There is also BBC bitesize and Khan Academy online.

I know what you mean about school reading books being boring. Could you set her up a star system for reading them; collect so many and get a present? Another idea is to have one particular toy to do reading with her so she feels they are learning to read together. You can then have the toy wanting to do the reading. rather than you asking her.

Yes, I think it is unusual. The kids I know learnt by 6-7ish. But I taught mine most of it at home, with analogue clocks. We have several and wear watches. School did it in y1 and y2, I think.

Has she got any concept of time though? I've thought about teaching DS but he has n't really grasped stuff like "half an hour" and "we're going to school at half past 8". He has a clock on his bedroom wall that I point at and say stuff like "you need to get dressed by nine o,clock, when the long hand is on the twelve, or we will be late for swimming". He is only 6 though. I am trying to reach him, after realising at a parents' meeting that he doesn't understand coins.

DS has had a 24 hour digital clock in his room since about the age of 5. This was a great way of him learning all about time. We then bought him a great watch from Argos which displayed everything you needed to know about time. He's in Y3 and can confidently tell the time, school have only just broached this subject.

So I'd get a clock in her room and a decent watch. There's nothing to worry about I'm sure, they all learn different things at different times. DS was just very interested in time, which was a bonus for us.

My DS could tell the time accurately at 6, but my DD can't and she's 8 now. She has a watch, which she dislikes wearing, and a clear analogue clock in her room, but her concept of time is sketchy to say the least. I have spent quite a lot of time trying to reach her and she can now reliably do quarter to, quarter past and half past on mathletics, but she just hasn't translated this into everyday life and gets cross if I ask her what the time is as she just doesn't want to work it out, it's still a big effort to get it right. She's behind in maths generally, though is making good progress this year as for the first time ever has a great teacher who appears to be healthy ( unluckily she's had a series of teachers over the last 2 school years who were great teachers but have each had to leave due to ill health, so she's had a lot of chopping and cganging to deal with.)

My DD can do on the hour and half past and she is 6. There is a good app called Mr Wolf part of the teachers pet range.

Yr 4 maths text books have very little on telling the time, apart from brief revision, as it is presumed most children "should" know how to do it by then. Tasks at this age tend to be based on timetables and working out how long journeys/TV programmes last.
It's quite common for children to be more comfortable with digital time than analogue, but they really ought to know both.

As a Year 2 teacher I aim that all children leaving KS1 (i.e. aged 7) can tell the time as o'clock, half past, quarter past (and maybe quarter to) in analogue; in digital the same plus minutes past (maybe only up to 30 minutes). Some may also compare, for example, 9.50 to ten minutes to ten on an analogue clock. I also expect them to know the number of seconds in a minute, minutes in an hour and hours in a day.

Can you buy her a watch for Christmas? This is what got my ds (aged 10) able to tell the time. (And me asking him a lot from that point on.)