Initially, It is hard for children to learn and read the time. Not just for children, but it is hard for
parents to make them learn too, right? However, making children learn to read time as early as possible is essential. After all, it is one of the basic life skills, and every person should know it. Helping your child read time might be a complicated and time-taking process, but not impossible. To give you a helping hand, we are sharing a few tips on how to help your children grasp the concept of reading time on watches and clocks. Keep Reading; you won’t regret it!
1. Make Timetables For Them
If you really want your child to learn to read, it is important to familiarise them with timetables and schedules. Let them know there is a time for everything, and they should complete every activity at a specific time. You can make a poster timetable and assign different times to every activity. For example, breakfast at 8 AM, watching TV at 5 PM, bedtime at 9 PM, etc. Doing this will make your child somewhat familiar with time and how to read it.
2. Talk About Time
Always try to include time in your daily routine and conversations. Besides time, try to include days and months in your conversation as well. For example, you can conversate about things like, “We will go to the supermarket in the afternoon today”, “we will have lunch at 1 pm”, and “tomorrow is your brother’s birthday.” Including phrases like these in daily conversations will help your children understand the time.
3. Make Hourly Announcements
Try to place a clock in every room of your house, and keep calling out the time loud all day, every hour. Also, make sure to include the ‘o’clock’ part in every announcement and mention the difference between am and pm. This will help the children to know the difference between hours and how to associate them with different parts of the day.
4. Discuss The Passage Of Time
Making your children understand the concept of seconds and minutes helps them to learn and read the time. Therefore, making them familiar with this concept is essential by giving them specific time frames to complete tasks. For example, you can tell them they are allowed to watch TV only for 30 minutes. Also, you can give them short breaks with a specific time (15 minutes, 10 minutes) between the study sessions.
5. Create Your Own Clock
You can make learning to read time a fun activity for your children with a simple art & crafts technique. Gather some handy art supplies and start making and designing your own click with your child. This activity will help your children learn different parts of the clock. While you are designing the clock, tell your children about the concepts of an hour, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and how a second passes.
6. Be Patient
In the end, always remember that learning to read time is not an easy task. Your children will require a lot of time to grasp the concepts. So, be patient with them and give them all the time they need to thoroughly understand the concepts. Your consistent support is what will make them learn.
Final Words
I hope this post and the tips helped you through one of the most challenging tasks as a parent; helping your child
read time! So, what are you waiting for? Just follow the tips we mentioned above, and we promise the whole process will be a piece of cake for you!
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