does your child struggle to tell the time

Does your child struggle to tell the time?

Telling the time can be a tricky concept and one that is not uniquely reserved for primary school children.  In May this year, telling the time made the national and international headlines when it was revealed that some teenagers can’t tell the time on an analogue clock.  Whilst we were a little surprised the problem was this widespread, it highlighted how many children struggle to tell the time, leaving parents wondering where to turn.

So, how do you know if your child is having difficulties telling the time?

If the issue hasn’t been raised in a parent’s evening or you’re not aware that your child is struggling with their time related work in school, here are a few tell-tale signs to look out for:

  • They can’t count easily from 1 to 60 – if your child is having trouble with numbers in sequences, recognising them from a random set or perhaps counting them backwards, they will find it difficult to read the numbers on a clock.
  • They struggle to count in blocks of 5 or 10 – this is another skill that really helps with reading the time as it enables children to recognise and count the minutes on a clock face.
  • They don’t understand the principle of time – it is true to say that we all experience time differently and that children in particular, have a very different notion of time to adults, however if your child struggles with the concept of time in day to day activities, this may be a sign they need a little extra help when trying to apply the concept to an actual clock.
  • They’re not used to seeing clocks – we live in an increasingly digital age, so if yours is a house without any analogue clocks, your child may find it more difficult to tell the time as they are not familiar with the traditional clock face.

 

What can you do to help?

There are many ways in which you can help your child if they are struggling to tell the time, but probably the most important is to talk to your children about the time and involve them in time related tasks.  Maybe you could get them to tell you when it is their bedtime by reading the time on the clock, or speak about everyday tasks in terms of how long they might take?  By making time a big part of everything you do, it can help your child to become familiar with the concept.

If you do not currently own an analogue clock, now might be the perfect time to invest in one.  If you don’t want a traditional timepiece to ruin your modern interiors, why not buy a clock for your child’s bedroom or playroom wall?  Our EasyRead Time Teacher clocks are colourful yet practical and feature our unique 3-step time teaching system, that will have your child mastering the skill in no time!

No room on the wall?  No worries, we’ve also got a range of alarm clocks and watches also featuring our 3-step time teaching system, so your child can practice telling the time until it becomes second nature.

If you’re worried that your child is falling behind in this essential skill, and you don’t want them to struggle next year at school when time teaching pops up on the agenda, consider buying one of our products today and you’ll be amazed at how quickly their ability develops.

Please speak to our team for advice or click here to order our products.

Past and to time teaching clock

Learning to Tell the Time with our Most Popular Time Teaching Clock

Being able to tell the time comes so naturally to most of us, that we’ve probably forgotten ever learning how to do it. But the truth is that it can be a confusing thing for children to master, that takes time and dedication.

At EasyRead Time Teacher, we believe that learning to tell the time should be fun and as straightforward as possible. Here, we share our top tips for helping youngsters on their way to success:

Invest in a learning resource

Our expertly developed Rainbow Past and To Wall Clock is the perfect way to help children learn to tell the time, thanks to a three-step system that teaches the ‘past and to’ method, which is common in the UK. Unlike other noisy clocks on the market, it has a silent hand that glides around the clock rather than ticking, perfect for quiet environments such as classrooms and bedrooms.

Children can use this time teaching clock to tell the time by following three simple steps:

  1. Read the number at the end of the long hand
  2. Say ‘minutes to’ if it’s pointing to the red side of the clock, or say ‘minutes past’ if it’s pointing to the green side
  3. Read the number at the end of the short hand. Like this: 8…minutes…2.

Voila!

Reinforce that time is chronological

In order to be able to tell the time, it is important for children to understand how doing it relates to the past, present and future. By helping a child link events in their lives to the times they take place, it reinforces the notion of time as a linear and structured measurement.

You can do this by using time related vocabulary such as ‘minutes’ or ‘o’clock’ when you are talking to your child about their schedule as this can help them begin to understand what they are doing and at what time that normally happens.

Use songs and art

Songs and rhymes are used to help children remember lots of things, and telling the time is no different. Sing songs about time, like ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’ and make up rhymes that may help them remember ways of telling the time.

Art can also be an effective educational tool for children, so making a clock and decorating it with things that happen at different times can be a fun and engaging activity that aids the learning process.

Check out our range of expertly designed products that can help you teach telling the time in a clear and easy way. If you would like any further information on our range, you can call: 01684 566832. We also sell our products in Australia and the USA, for contact details, please see here.

Alarm clock with night light

Busy, busy, busy – plus an amazing new product coming soon

It’s been a hectic few months for us here at EasyRead Time Teacher, attending five major trade shows in the first 3 months of 2017. In the UK you may have seen us talking to teachers at BETT and the Education Show, or showcasing our products to retailers at the Spring Fair. We also made our first marketing trip into Europe at Spielwarenmesse (International Toy Fair) in Nuremberg, Germany; and we’ve been showing our products to USA educational retailers at EDexpo in Las Vegas. We were shortlisted as finalists in the UK Educational Resources Awards, thanks to our KS1 maths time-teacher classroom sets.

We’re now pleased to announce our latest new product, which will be available in Australia, the UK & USA by the end of April. We have been hard at work for the past year developing our children’s alarm clocks – perfect for a child’s bedroom! We’ve given our alarm clocks three great features:

  • A crescendo alarm, which starts with a gentle beep and gets progressively louder until it is turned off or the snooze button is pressed, delaying it for 5 minutes;
  • The clock face is back-lit and acts as a night light, which glows gently in the dark and gets brighter when the snooze button is pressed;
  • A silent sweep movement so there is no annoying ticking sound.

Our alarm clocks are available in two colour schemes – rainbow or red & blue. Of course we have made them for both time teaching systems – Past & To or 24-Hour. The alarm clocks have the same face designs as our wall clocks and children’s wrist watches, and come with a reminder of our simple step-by-step time teaching methods. Click here to view the new EasyRead Alarm Clocks.

EasyRead Time Teacher

The Perfect Gift

EasyRead Time Teacher watches are a fantastic present to give to the important child in your life.

Our clocks and watches are a brilliant and educational gift for the little ones in your family. Children all over the world have loved taking ownership of their learning – it’s great to see children teaching themselves and having fun doing it. Every child has to learn how to tell the time as part of their Key Stage 1 Maths syllabus, so why not give them a helping hand with one of our wristwatches?

They’re comfortable and colourful, with a large clear face that shows children everything they need to know to tell the time. The wristband will fit even the tiniest wrist and it’s removable so it can be washed.

Click here to see our EasyRead watches.

With an EasyRead watch, a five year old can learn to tell the time in just 10 minutes. Click here to see what our customers say.

Don’t worry, our 3-step process is very easy to master and our free resources are just a click away. We have all the support you need.

In addition, we also offer clocks for the home. Our 3-step teaching system is easy to master, enabling the children to learn with very minimal input from the adults around them. Click here to view our EasyRead clocks.

EasyRead Time Teacher

What are your children learning at school?

It’s important for parents to understand what their child is learning at school. It’s only natural that parents want to help their child be the best they can be. The early years at school are important to a child’s learning growth.

Preschool and Kindergarten

At preschool age, kids are required to be able to discuss units of time. For example seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and years. To be able to do this, kids need to have an understanding of how time works. Having one of our EasyRead wall clocks at home will begin to introduce kids to the concept of time, therefore making their first day at preschool that little bit easier. In Kindergarten, kids will begin to develop their understanding of units of time and will begin to add phrases such as morning, afternoon, next week, in fifteen minutes etc. to their vocabulary.

Grade 1

Kids at this stage should be able to tell and write the time in hours and half hours. They will also be able to describe events in terms of time. This means they will begin to use phrases such as “this morning I…”, “for the first 15 minutes I will be…” and “at 1:30pm I…”

Our EasyRead Time Teacher wall clocks and watches are great for introducing your kids to the concept of time at home so they are prepared for what they are going to be learning at school.

Click here to see the EasyRead wall clocks.

Click here to see the EasyRead watches.

EasyRead Time Teacher

Our customers are our best advert

Here at EasyRead Time Teacher, we love hearing feedback from our customers. We have always believed that our customers are our best advert. Take a look at what they are saying about EasyRead:

“The watch I ordered allowed my 9 year old dyslexic daughter to read the time like her classmates for the very first time! It has made such a significant difference to her life.”

“I would highly recommend this clock if your child has difficulty understanding how to tell the time – I wish I’d had something like this when I was a child!”

“My daughter has an EasyRead watch, we bought the matching clock and they really help with her understanding.”

“My five year old daughter learned to tell the time in five minutes!”

“Fantastic watch! My Granddaughter can’t wait to go to school wearing hers!”

“Excellent, daughter is very happy! She learnt time within two days. The watch is very sturdy, highly recommended.”

“Best watch I’ve ever purchased for my daughter.”

“What a brilliant watch!! So easy to read and builds children’s confidence. I would recommend this watch to everyone!”

“Great products and excellent quality for the money!”

Would you like to see what all the fuss is about? Click here to view all our EasyRead products.

EasyRead Time Teacher

Tell the time in 3 simple steps

The maths curriculum requires children to tell the time to the hour and half past the hour. It’s a daunting task and you might be wondering how you can help your child grasp this tricky concept. Many children have a difficult time learning how to tell the time so we have created a beautifully simple yet very effective 3-step method.

Let’s look at an example:

FINAL-ClassroomClock-PS-140214

Step 1:

Read the number at the end of the long hand.

In our case, it would be ‘8’

 

Step 2:

Say which side it’s pointing to: ‘minutes to’ is the red side and ‘minutes past’ is the blue side.

On our clock, the long hand is on the red side so ‘minutes to’

 

Step 3:

Read the number at the end of the short hand.

The short hand is pointing to ‘2’

 

Put it all together so you will get:

‘8 minutes to 2’

 

Take a look at what our customers say about our 3 step teaching system:

“My five year old daughter learned to tell the time in five minutes!”

“Excellent, my daughter is very happy! She learnt time within two days – highly recommended.”

“I wish I had something like this when I was a child.”

“My son is 25 and has Down’s Syndrome, he’s used the watch and system for four days and is now telling the time correctly 99% of the time!”

EasyRead Time Teacher

Real learning comes from repeated practice

EasyRead Time Teacher believe in practice makes perfect. When children master something as difficult as telling the time, they need to cement that skill with practice. We have the solution.

Having an EasyRead classroom clock on your wall encourages children to practice on their own, in their own time. Children love to take ownership of their learning and will be running to the clock to practice their new skills!

As well as our brilliant products, we also offer numerous free learning resources such as clock colouring sheets, our two step and three step systems and our video library.

EasyRead Time Teacher

How to use TwinTime

Teaching a classroom full of children to tell the time is tricky. So we created EasyRead TwinTime – great for schools.

Our new EasyRead TwinTime is a ‘hands on’ resource for children learning to tell the time. It is a teaching and learning resource perfect for teachers to demonstrate setting and telling the time on a clock face.

Pair the TwinTime Student with the Teacher Edition for an educational but fun lesson plan. The PVC clock cards are wipe on wipe off so children can practise setting the time on the clock face and writing the time underneath. You can also use our TwinTime products for teaching fractions.

Learn both ‘minutes past and minutes to’ and ’12 and 24 hour’ methods with our double sided teaching resources. We are trusted by hundreds of schools and thousands of teachers.

Click here to see our Student Edition here.

Click here to see our Teacher Edition here.

Use our simple yet effective two step teaching method for ‘12 and 24 hour’ and our three step teaching method for ‘minutes past and minutes to’.