Telling the time with a traditional clock

[JerkintheMerkin]

How important do you think it is to learn this skill? I've spoken with quite a few of my DD's friends (she's 10) who can't actually tell the time unless it's digital. In fairness she can't either. I've tried numerous times to explain it to her and purposely ask her the time in "clock speak" as opposed to "digital speak" but she has never got it and says what's the point when she mainly sees the time in digital. Shall I plough ahead until one day the penny drops or should I just say the time as if we're in the army? "Get up for school at oh-600 hours"

It's a very important skill to have, same with the phonetic alphabet. However if at 10 she still can't read an analogue clock I'd worry there's some developmental issues

I teach 16-19 year olds. I reckon about half cannot tell the time on an analogue clock. They also struggle with time fractions e.g. quarter to. It’s on the maths exam they need to pass so not ideal.

I think it is vitally important to learn time on an analogue clock. ⏰ I think visually it’s easier to see the relationship between hours and minutes .

It’s a skill that has to be worked on at home imo. I think most kids are well capable of it, the drill work is just not done.

How is that possible?! My 5yo learned to tell the time in his first term in reception

Really?

My 4 yo is doing it in nursery.

Buy a clock with it on and place it on the wall by the dinning table.

https://www.dunelm.com/product/tell-the-time-large-clock-30cm-1000199810?defaultSkuId=30766819&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Kids_Accessories-Other-PMax_%5BGOO-PLA-KIDSACCESS-ACCESS%5D&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt8_cqreQhgMVsKWDBx0UKQGyEAQYAiABEgIL8vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I think it's essential to be able to tell the time on an analogue clock. When my daughter was young, I assumed it was one of the things that all parents taught their children before they started school. I was shocked that some of the children in her class couldn't tell the time.

Lots of children of this age can’t tell the time on an analogue clock. I do think it’s important skill as it’s a cultural way to refer to the passing of time but I do think that some children struggle with this until they have to manage their own time. At 10, the exact time is kind of irrelevant to their day. Keep perservering she will get there.

Surely it's a parent's job to teach time telling by about age 8.

My dd teaches secondary and hardly any can.

What a sad world we now live in.

To the nearest minute? That is the Y3 curriculum. It's the one area of maths I'd say many children just cannot master. Many children don't actually see analogue clocks much now. There are always 2 or 3 children in a LKS2 class who have clearly been confidently telling the time for a couple of years and then with everyone else it's a slog, trying to remind them about half past and quarter past/to even which are taught in Y1 when actually the curriculum says you should be teaching the 24 hour clock.

The problem is they learn it at primary school then don’t really use analogue again, so it gets forgotten like us with trigonometry or French. My bright 15 year old who definitely could tell the time when she was 8, now struggles a bit. I can’t fathom it, but then I didn’t grow up with digital everything.

It's also literally in the National Curriculum in Y2 and Y3.

My DC learned quite early (nursery and reception) but they are quite 'mathsy' and we have analogue clocks all over the house.

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I've been trying with her since she was little but she just has a mental block on it. I always say things like 10 to 2 instead of 1:50 that sort of thing. I'm determined that she learns. We have an analogue click in the kitchen so I'll keep going.

It’s much harder than it used to be as most clocks around homes and society are digital now, so the only practice they’ll really get is at school. It’s a skill that’s likely to be irrelevant with further digitisation.

We have analogue clocks in most rooms in the house, plus DH and I both wear watches.
DS is 7 and can tell the time very well, has been able to since reception (I think) when they started at school.

He does have a clock in his room that explains what each section is which makes it easier.

I don't know anyone who can't tell the time on an analogue clock

@Legomania she's been learning it in yr 5 and still can't get her head around it. Sadly she is not "mathsy" at all which doesn't help.

Most of the clocks in our house are analogue. The only digital clocks are on the oven, central heating control, laptops and phones. I don't think anyone in our household has ever had a digital watch.

@CatamaranViper I don’t know anyone with a single analogue clock in their home let alone one in every room.

Are analogue clocks going to become the new mn stealth boast as to how erudite a household is 😂

My ds did know in primary school but there are so few analogue clocks around now, it is now something he really has to think about (I.e. he can but he’ll definitely pause to work it out). He sitting his GCSEs this year and is on target for all 8s and 9s so I don’t think it a general intelligence thing, just a reflection of a little used skill.

We have a large analogue clock on our kitchen wall . I explain it to granddaughter when ever she is with us. She also has a jigsaw clock .

It's a dying skill. When I started teaching it didn't even occur to me. They could all do it, it's crept in and now it's really common to have sixth formers, so I presume many many adults - bright academic ones - who just can't read it.

Much as I rolled my eyes at the time, I am now indebted to my mother who hated us not having a wall clock so insisted on buying one with clear numbers for the DC to see every single day of their lives. It worked.

I teach in a comprehensive school. Many students do not know how to tell the time.

Get her a watch.

Flik & Flak app is very good. Perhaps a bit younger aimed but not patronising

All my kids can tell the time on analogue clocks. Apart from the kitchen (where the oven has a digital clock) all the clocks in the house are analogue, including in their bedrooms.

Top tip though, you can change the clock on their mobile to an analogue if they are struggling, they soon learn if they have to use the skill multiple times a day. It's nothing to do with being 'mathsy', it's simply practice.