Telling the Time for Kids: To the Minute

The most useful life skill for kids is reading a clock. Knowing time does the trick for a kid in organizing and being independent-from waking up and preparing for school to the time his favorite cartoon airs. However, many parents ask how to teach time to the minute so that the child can understand easily.

Why Are We Teaching Time?

Telling the time is more than just numbers on and clock face; it builds the concepts of sequencing, routine, and responsibility. Telling time to the minute also enhances one's math skills because the practice involves skip counting, addition, and subtraction. 

Steps to Give Any Child the Ability to Tell Time to the Minute

At first, trial with hours and half hours

First, teach the child how to recognize the hour hand versus the minute hand. Once children are confidently good at hours and half-hours, they should then move on to quarter-hours. 

Cover 5-minute intervals

Teach your child to count every number on the analog clock from the outer set of numbers as the number of 5-minutes; for example, if the minute hand is at 3, it means 15 minutes.

Practice skip counting by fives

Encourage your child to count 5, 10, 15, 20… all the way to 60.  This helps in quickly identifying how many minutes have gone.

Single-minute marks

After they have memorized interval counting in 5-minute intervals, explain to them that every small tick on the clock stands for a single minute. This is considered telling time to the minute.

Have fun every day while steadily practicing

Ask three simple questions-one after another:

"What time is it now?"

"If it's 3:20, how many minutes are left for 3:30?"

"Can you set the clock to 7:45?"

Try combining games, worksheets, and colorful instructional clocks to capture the children's interest while teaching.

Tips for Parents

Use an actual analog clock at home to practice.

Make time for time-related activities.

Praise their efforts and reward slight success.

How Bambinos Could Assist

Our Alpha Math program at Bambinos makes the learning of math concepts simple, interactive, and fun for the children. This structured curriculum will help kids not only learn the concept of telling time to the minute but also enjoy solving word problems and building number senses.

If you want to build a strong math foundation and keep kids excited about learning, then Bambinos Alpha Math program is the perfect start

Alpha Math offers a game-based learning experience with a unique four-step approach to mastering every concept in math. Schedule a Free Class Now