Telling Time

K and I started some time telling work this week with a traditional clock.  He knows the days of the week and the months of the year, and since we've put up our calendar, he's gotten a pretty good concept of time in regards to days and even months.  He also has begun learning to read a digital clock.  After some time trying to determine how I was going to introdue the concept, we have finally started.  I got some of my ideas from this blog (Making Montessori Ours).

K was really excited about the activity when he saw it on the shelf.  We started our work with the on the hour time.  I used 3x5 index cards to write the time and the words on, and I decided I would write the hours and minutes in different colors to help K with his time telling.  The clock was a Christmas gift from his aunt and uncle last Christmas.  It's great for what we are doing right now, though I do realize we will probably need a clock with all the minute tick marks on it eventually.

Our tray

This is a photo of the partial setup.  So far, we have been placing all twelve hours on the mat for whichever increment of time we are working on.

Here is K at work!  After we go through each of the time cards together once (or however many times it takes for him to understand the particular increment of time we are working on), I allow him to choose the numerical time card on his own, find the corresponding words and set the correct time on the clock. 

We have also checked out several books about telling time, which he enjoys hearing/reading.  He's having fun!