Learning to tell the time

Some answers to your questions.

To learn to tell the time, you must first be able to define what time is. Once this notion of time is well understood, learning to tell the time will be much easier.

"Mummmyyyyyy when is the tasteeerrrr ???? Here's a question you've probably heard before that may indicate your little one is on the road to questioning the time of things! This question sometimes comes up very early, even before the age of 3. But what if the child doesn't know the numbers yet?

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Understanding the HOURS - the indispensable 24-hour routine clock

The 24-hour routine clock, in addition to building the idea of TIME, enables a child to associate a particular event with a specific time. They acquire the ability to relate a task to a specific time of day (according to your daily rituals - morning, afternoon, etc) and to a specific time (without worrying about minutes at this stage).  

The 24-hour clock in the routines is a very effective support for the child, so that he or she can understand the link between the hand and the information it points to. This is an essential skill to master in order to later learn to tell the time on a watch or a traditional clock.

A first level of reading the information will consist of linking the hand to the illustration (bath time, snack time, departure for school, etc., indicated by the hand).  In the second level of reading, the child will be able to link the event pointed to a precise time (written on the periphery of the dial). This second stage will be possible when the child can read the numbers from 1 to 24. The time of the main events in the child's routine can then be discussed.

IN BRIEF, the 24-hour clocks are quite simply THE TOOL that allows the child 
- gain autonomy 
- associate times with concrete tasks and key moments in their day 
- understand what hours and durations are
- make the link between a hand and the information it gives us (first step in reading the hours)

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What about MINUTES? 

As soon as we are interested in minutes, everything else has been understood. Notions of TIME, MOMENTS and HOURS are assimilated and well understood, and the child masters counting from 1 to 24.

Once the child can count to 100 and has mastered the tens and counting from 5 to 5 (in CP, CE1), it will be possible to envisage learning to read the time on a clock or a classic watch. In addition to this, they will be able to understand the quarter-hour and the division of the clock face into quarters.

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