It's a bit of a myth that great artists are born great. Great artists need support and development by great teachers. I am really passionate about arts education, as I think it can be too easy for people to just look at the end result and forget all of the practise and training that goes into producing a great artist. This blog is all about demystifying arts education and showing how anyone can become a better artist. It will be useful for budding artists, but also for teachers and parents looking to inspire teenagers into further art education to improve their skills.
Learning how to tell the time is an important aspect of early childhood education that parents should undertake, before their kids start school. Here are some simple but effective ideas for teaching your youngster how to tell the time.
Before your child begins learning how to tell the time, use fun games that will give your child an idea of what different measurements of time equate to. For example, ask the child to complete an easy puzzle within five minutes, or perhaps challenge them to skip with you for two minutes.
Telling the time
A really useful tool for teaching time-telling is a jigsaw clock. As the child completes the simple jigsaw, they will learn where each number should fit. When the hands are fitted to the completed jigsaw, you can show the child how they move around the clock and explain the difference between the minute and hour hands.
Start by explaining that the long hand indicates minutes, whereas the short hand relates to hours. Next, explain that there are 12 five minute blocks on the face of the clock, which add up to 60 minutes. Then explain that there are 60 minutes in every hour, and move the minute hand around the clock by way of illustration. It then naturally follows that each time the minute hand has moved once around the clock face, the hour hand moves on to the next number, marking that one whole hour has passed.
Once your child understands this, you can ask them to show you different o'clock times related to what you do at those times each day. For example, "Show me what time we have our lunch. That's right; it's 12 o'clock!"
Using the same principle, move on to teach your child how to tell the half-past times, linking them to events that occur each day in your home routine. The natural progression is now to move on to the quarter-to and quarter-past times. At this point it can be a good idea to buy your child a simple wrist watch. This will help to keep them interested in learning to tell the time and will encourage them to practice.
In conclusion
It's important that your child can tell the time before they begin school. Follow the guidelines above to teach your child this valuable skill, and before long they will be telling you what the time is. For assistance, talk to a professional like Hopskotch Kindergarten.
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