When should a child learn to tell the time by?

[megafatCEObaby]

DD is 6 in August and still can’t. It seems some of her friends can. What’s average?

My son is in Reception and has just started learning about time and seems to be able to grasp hours well. Nothing else but then I'm just impressed he can do that!

I have a very strong memory of being in the last year of infants and the teacher sending us out one by one to tell her the time from the hall clock.

Everyone came back saying "the big hand is on the" and she was getting more and more cross. That was back in the early 70s. I got a Timex watch for my 7th birthday.

DD is 11 and just can't understand the concept of an analogue clock at all, despite my spending ages trying to teach her. She has dyspraxia and dyslexia.

By the end of key stage 1

sorry, in case I appear to be bragging in my somewhat tangential conversation with elQuinto I mean somewhere between nearly 6 and nearly 7, dependent on birthday, when I say "as they approach school age" in my post because that's when my kids started school and had to be ready to use the German time language I actually don't know when kids start school in Spain (am assuming Spain elQuinto* ?) is it also 6 ish?

I love Eryri1982's answer. Even the cleverest of people take their own time time to master different skills. Some kids will probably never learn to tell the time brilliantly but, thanks to technology, telling the time the old fashioned way will soon be viewed in the same way as we view learning Roman numerals!

Majority of DD1's class are starting to get there with it now towards the end of Y1 - class teacher keeps asking them to tell her what time it is during the day and it's about 50/50 who can do it... bit more variable when you get to the "to times". They've only just really nailed counting up and back in 5s reliably though which is why I think they're pushing it gently now.

Some people find it difficult, so there's no age it should be able to be done by (in my opinion).

Obviously, practising can help but in my own limited experience, if the brain isn't ready to grasp it, it just can't!

Any dyslexia/dyspraxia or tendencies can make it challenging.

It is hard at school though because it's not just telling the time, but moving on to problem type questions, time lapse etc.

I definitely wouldn't have been concerned if mine couldn't have told the time when they were 5 though!

I teach in FE and meet many people with undiagnosed dyslexia. It has more impact on Maths than is generally understood. One of my indicators is having difficulties with time, including using an analogue clock.

It is taught in Year 2 and gone over again in yrs 3 and 4. Schools generally stop teaching it after that and concentrate on word problems to explore it children properly understand time. Having said that, there are always a few Yr 6s who struggle because they always use digital.

By a quarter to eight? 🤪

Thanks, I just wondered as it was taught in Reception and has been in Year 1 too, so I didn't know whether she was expected to get it by now.

in year 2 they should be able to work it out to the nearest quarter of an hour. actually tell the time properly about end of year 3/start of year 4.

I didn't learn until I was an adult though and even at nearly 30 do occasionally have to take a minute to work out what the clock says, in all honesty its not a massive issue, I have a digital watch.

My ds was able to tell the time by 2. But that doesn't mean he did understood the concept of time. Just he was able to read the clock, like a party trick. And he forgot it completely once he lost interest on teaching clock he was playing with, and had to re-learn it again at school, though it didn't take long. But he still hasn't got the concept of how long 5 minutes really is in real life, even he can answer quite complicated time word problems, at 10.

I don't think it's so difficult to learn how to "read" the clock with lots of practice. But to understand the concept of real time, it depend on the child, and that's far more important, imo.

Catinapool - that depends on the region in Germany. Where I grew up 9.30 is half past nine not half ten. I loved 3 years in Bavaria where they use your way to say it and I always had to double check when making appointments or arranging to meet people.

I would say reading an analog clock is vital to know, despite a lot places now have digital ones. Most people I know still say quarter past ten and not 10.15 so children will have to learn to understand others. Knowing that you work in 60s and not 100s is also necessary.

DD got a time turner watch when she was 6 and learned the half and full hours fast, I think the minutes came on Y3.

I only wear an analog watch, far more beautiful than a smart watch or others and DD learned how to read one without numbers on it with no problem.

Seriously reluctant ? I've only ever lived in Bavaria (for 11 years). I have no idea why anyone pretends Germany is all one country tbh, every frigging thing is apparently totally different in different states! I had no idea even telling the time was!

My 10 year old still can’t reliably tell the time, she is otherwise reasonably bright!

Cat - Bavaria is a very much state on its own. Not saying that this rest agrees on everything but they def stand out.

There's such a big range - I work in Y4 and we're teaching time at the moment. About 20% of the year group could already tell the time when we assessed at the begining (we set for time) and after two lessons, about another 20% can also tell the time to the nearest minute. There are various groups between this and my group, who have just mastered quarter past the hour - they were shaky with o'clock and half past when we started, but have now got those, and quarter past too. Quarter to tomorrow, which I have a feeling will be difficult.

We have lots of EAL children, for whom time language may be different in their first languges, as mentioned upthread, but it's by no means all EAL children in the bottom set - about 50/50, which is the same as the year group as a whole.

DD(12) still has to work it out every single time if she's looking at an analogue clock. I think DC these days so often see the time in digital form, that they don't get the "all the time" practice. (She's otherwise extremely able, just seems unable to do this)

DD2 did it in school around Easter of y3, so 8yo.

Ds was about 6 which was weird as he struggled academically with everything at that age (is flying ahead now at 11)

Dd is 7 and seems to be very bright but can’t seem to master telling the time.

I’m not even remotely worried

My ds ..early 20s and well on his way to being an accountant..cannot read the time on a clock with numbers 12 / 3/ 6/9.and dots for all the other numbers...he has no idea where the other numbers should be...and gets totally confused.
I find in school it varies greatly but most have it by 9. It something we need to do again and again until it sticks.

By secondary transfer, if you can't tell the time public transport is really difficult. We had a "tell the time" game which helped I have a feeling ds was year 2 so dd was pre-school (4ish). Both could do it reliably by yr3

www.tesco.com/direct/orchard-toys-tell-the-time-educational-game/211-0520.prd?skuId=211-0520&pageLevel=sku&sc_cmp=ppcPartners_TextPX+-+Google+-+Shopping+-+Generic+-+All+PartnersPRODUCT+GROUP211-0520&ds_kid=92700030707117597&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5O_t0rKD2wIVirDtCh0yWArxEAQYAiABEgJnBPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CKLIguqyg9sCFU4y0wodAb0FAQ&source=others