How Time Flies!

Telling the time is quite a challenging concept for children to get to grips with, so it is best to learn in stages!

Here are a few teaching tips to help get you started.

Start with “O’ Clocks” (1 o’ clock, 2 o’ clock…) and associate the time of day with your child’s normal activity to help reinforce genuine understanding. When he or she is ready, introduce ”half-past”, “quarter past” and “quarter to” the hours. Then, start to practice the digital time before moving onto more complex times e.g. ‘25 minutes past/to..’.

Try to be patient though! It can take weeks or months to understand a stage. As with all learning, it is best to spend a few minutes regularly rather than attempting everything all in one go. Wherever possible refer to the time during the day, so your child can see the relevance to his or her days.

Here at NEST we have introduced an exclusive working wall clock and a “Tell the Time” magnetic wall chart to our range, to help parents and and teachers educate their children with this tricky but vital concept.