Telling Time Blog

Practical guides for teachers, homeschoolers and parents teaching children to read a clock.

🕛

What Does "Half Past" Mean? A Simple Explanation

Half past means 30 minutes after the hour: the minute hand on the 6, the hour hand midway between two numbers. A 12-minute lesson plan and fixes for four common errors.

· 6 min read

🌎

Teaching Time Zones to Children Without the Headache

Start with the four US zones, a globe and a flashlight, then work real examples: flights, kickoff times, and calls to grandma. Includes fixes for the classic errors.

· 7 min read

🌐

Why Are There 60 Minutes in an Hour?

Base-60 counting from Sumer, twelve-hour days from Egypt, and the arithmetic that kept them: 60 divides evenly twelve ways, so thirds and quarters stay whole.

· 7 min read

🕜

How to Read a Clock Face: Every Part Explained

The short hand names the hour it has passed; the long hand counts in fives. Every part of the dial, a three-step reading routine, and fixes for five errors.

· 7 min read

🕐

The 24-Hour Clock Explained for Kids

Add 12 for p.m. hours, and watch the two exceptions at midnight and noon. A full conversion table, timetable practice, common errors and a 30-minute lesson.

· 6 min read

🕑

Quarter Past vs Quarter To: Ending the Confusion

Why 2:45 is quarter to three, not quarter to two, plus the short-hand-first habit, five errors children make, and a ten-minute daily drill that fixes them.

· 6 min read

🔢

How to Calculate Elapsed Time: 4 Methods That Work

Number line, written subtraction, T-chart and clock face, each with a worked example, the intervals it suits, and what to say when a student gets it wrong.

· 7 min read

🎒

Back to School: Reviewing Time Skills in Week One

Three five-minute stations on day two show you exactly which clock skills survived the summer, plus the reteach groups and daily routine that close the gaps.

· 8 min read

What Is Elapsed Time? A Parent and Teacher Guide

Elapsed time is the gap between a start and an end point. Here is the order to teach it in, four strategies that work, and the four errors children really make.

· 5 min read