Fun and Easy Ways to Teach Telling Time

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“I want to learn to tell time!”

Interest means “I am all in and listening!”

I went to find our student, geared clock purchased at an educational resource store. It’s pretty, with gears and moving hands. Littles loved it.

For this learner, making our own clock sounded like a better idea; and hence, I fostered the ownership of the idea. I smiled, knowing if we worked together on the project, there would be greater, meaningful buy in.

Relationships matter.

I chose a dinner plate from the kitchen cabinet, turned it upside down on cardstock, and traced.

My little learner couldn’t wait to cut along the pencil line.

Next, we searched our sticker collection for numbers, big ones! It wasn’t long before we found them and my little learner eagerly placed them on the freshly cut out clock while I cut out the hands and found a brass brad in the junk drawer. She colored the hands by the time I made it back to the table.

Since our initial introduction to and exploration with the clock, many fun impromptu lessons have blossomed, first learning to tell time to the hour, then the half- and quarter-hour, and finally, minutes. She loves moving the hands to match a given time. To encourage the connection to symbolic representation, I have her use the hands to show the time and then ask her write the time on paper, modeling one or two examples first. We’ve also used the clock to practice counting by five. Our homemade clock has been a welcomed learning resource, and we’re very proud of our crafty accomplishment.

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Materials

A dinner plate

Number stickers

Minute hand, cut out of cardstock

Hour hand, cut out of cardstock

Beyond the Paper Clock

It’s important for children to learn to tell time on both analog and digital clocks and watches. With this in mind, we’d purchased our little learner a fun watch, which she picked out among the masses available. Though she was curious about it and about time, the real “need” to know wasn’t strong enough to foster the learning of the concept…at that time. However, when the interest resurfaced, I encouraged.

Investigate other ways to keep time: water clocks, cuckoo clocks, egg timers, grandfather clocks, pendulum clocks, alarm clocks, and stop watches.

Search for clocks in use in public places. This can be a fun way to pass time while waiting in line.

Use the stop watch on your phone to internalize Elapsed time. Children need to know what a minute (or five and thirty) “feels” like, and elapsed time is a hard concept for children to understand. Stopwatches help master the concept. This new found time tool will add spark to afternoon doldrums. Try timing

  • cars going down a ramp,

  • family members running around the block,

  • the length of time it takes to boil water, and

  • relay races.

Use an egg timer to brush teeth.

Read picture and non-fiction books about time (extensive list in my book, Cultivating Curiosity)

Hearing the excitement, “I want to learn to tell time!”?

Dig in and make it intentional, real, and relational!


Kindergarten at Home: What Little Learners Need

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The Kindergarten year lays the educational foundation for life and learning.

In fact, it is during the Kindergarten year that little learners get their “first taste” of “school”. What they think about “school” and who they are as a learner is developed from their experiences in this first year. That’s weighty to me, but also freeing—so you are not alone if that hits you hard. Keep reading, there’s help and freedom in this decision.

There’s freedom in choosing what’s best for your family from the buffet of choices.

Kindergarteners  master foundational skills which serve as a knowledge base for the years and skills to come. Included in that foundation are the attitudes toward learning.  If the days and the education in those days are rushed—pushed—learning becomes burdensome, uninteresting, and often irrelevant. When learning flows naturally from that which is real and relational—interesting and personal—joy and wonder fuel their unending curiosity.

A love of learning is nurtured and begins with the items and people little learners love most.

I reminisce over the years we’ve spent with our Kinders. There’s been eight of them. I also taught K4s prior to coming home with my own. For my first-hand experience, I know these years can be fun, soul-nurturing, and satisfying. Here’s a peek into how we’ve done Kindergarten.

Nurture Curiosity. We purpose to give our children the gifts of investigation, experimentation, and discovery. In our home, Kindergarten science is hands-on. At different points during the year we

  • observe caterpillars change to butterflies (you can order them online or plant a small portion of milkweed in a bed outside your home.

  • purchase an ant farm (again online)

  • dig holes outside and allow use of water, PVC pipe, small rocks, and anything needed to build dams, lakes, and pretend sinkholes

  • plant seeds and grow beans

  • watch bird behavior—building nests, flight patterns, listen and identify bird calls

  • go hang out by the lake to feed ducks and fish, catch and release minnows

  • go to the beach and find treasures and critters,collect and identify shells

  • find tadpoles and watch them change to frogs

  • build forts

  • play in puddles

  • observe different spider webs

  • use magnifying glasses and our Magiscope

We check out books from the library on whatever topics we’re learning about (this doesn’t stop at Kindergarten). We also purchase resources and build our home library. The books fuel the curiosity. In our home, Kindergarten science is relaxed, real, engaging, and open-ended—meaning we dig in as deep as we want into any interest. In the end, science concepts well beyond Kindergarten are learned and retained. This has served all abilities well—learning challenged to gifted—and works well when teaching multiple-age children.

Nurture the Mind. This is closely related to and interweaves with nurturing curiosity. One of the reasons we decided to homeschool centered around how individual I knew learning could be and how that individualization could foster thinking, not matter what the age or ability of the child. Nurturing the mind can happen while playing (PLAY is super important in the early years), while engaged in conversation (littles NEED us to listen to their ideas and feelings), or while pondering open-ended questions (questions which cannot be answered with yes or no). Little learners are natural questioners. They wonder what will happen next, how things happen, and when things will happen. It is in this inquisitiveness that they learn how life and people work, interact, and interrelate. Questioning is one of the most important life skills parents can foster and nurture. Mike and I foster inquisitiveness with commentaries and questions which invite our children to do the same. 

  • I wonder how the (insert animal) stays warm.

  • What comes next in the sequence?  

  • I wonder if (insert item) will work better with this or that.

  • What do you think will happen next?

  • I wonder where that trail leads.

  • Let's watch the (insert animal). I wonder what it will do next. 

  • How long do you think it will take to ...?

Nurture Physical Development. The park was our friend. Children need to run, skip, pump swings, climb rock walls. They need to move. Their bodies are still growing and developing essential muscle ability. Because the body develops from the center to the limb, a strong core is vital. I reminded myself when my children wanted to learn to spell their names, that core development influenced their ability to do so.

Part of why we decided to homeschool rested on the knowledge that I could give my children whatever they needed concept wise and not rob them of time to play. We use a solid math curriculum and we keep moving forward, meaning we sometimes need the first grade level. We don’t spend more than 20 mins at the table at at a time and provide interesting "math tools" to investigate, experiment with, and learn to use.

  • kitchen scale

  • tape measure

  • ruler

  • yardstick

  • outside thermometer

  • measuring cups and spoons

  • a funnel

  • bathroom scale (weights more than people, smile!)

  • shape stencils

  • protractors

In addition, the child’s piggy bank provides a great meaningful (children want to know how much money they have) resource to learn coin recognition; counting by ones, fives, and tens; and adding. We add engaging math-based picture books where we are able.

Outside of math, we

Read aloud. Reading aloud has been one of the most rewarding activities we've done in our more than years of teaching and parenting littles—picture books, biographies, non-fiction wonders. Each title opens opportunities for setting a template for the English language, building vocabulary, bolstering listening skills, understanding parts of a story, retelling events, the list goes on. Interestingly, there have been times when our little learners are seemingly off in their own world—playing, stacking blocks, coloring—while I read and yet, hours later, they remember EVERY word. So, as you embark on the read aloud journey, I encourage you to read, even when you think your learners are not engaged or paying attention. They are listening. Your reading matters!

The goal was to read aloud, everyday: one picture book, one science-related book (generally from what they were interested in or what we were observing and studying), and one biography or history-related book.

I made sure I left time for pretend play.

Pretend play. Littles learn by imagining and doing, by role playing and creating dialogue in relaxed and uninterrupted environments. Pretend play utilizes the senses and engages the mind, building language and thinking skills. Beginning in the toddler years, littles can be found feeding baby dolls, talking on pretend telephones, playing store, and mixing marvelous meals in a play kitchen. This continues through Kindergarten. What's needed? Props! Some of our favorite pretend play items have been:

  • calculators, adding machines, and toy cash registers

  • dress up clothes and hats, backpacks and purses

  • fabric pieces, scarves, or old costumes

  • aprons, chef hats, pretend food, and dishes

  • stuffed animals and dolls

  • receipt books, stickers, and play money

  • old telephones, computer keyboards, and monitors

  • puppets and make-shift card table theaters 

When the afternoon boredom sets in, I allow my children to utilize our art supplies or play games. You can read about how we built and organized our art supplies. Our favorite learning games are listed here. While creating art or playing games, littles practice turn taking with supplies, deferment to another person, waiting for others to make decisions or complete a turn, as well as a multitude of cognitive skills.

We want our Kindergarteners to know they matter—their thoughts, their ideas, their feelings, their development.

One of the best things about homeschooling is we get to do life together.

Do life together. One of the things I love about parenting Kindergarteners is watching their faces light up—indoors and outdoors, around the home, and on vacation.

  • Getting the mail might lead to a conversation about stamps, addresses, states, or modes of transportation.

  • Setting the table teaches one-to-one correspondence.

  • Folding laundry offers opportunities to make fractional parts by folding in half and in half again.

  • Matching shoes and sorting toys provides real-life situations for identifying similarities and differences.

  • Making together, kitchen experiences: measuring, comparing, weighing (math skills) as well as muscle skills, scrubbing potatoes, stirring, and kneading together. Doing life together allows preschoolers to learn alongside

Every moment is a marvel, especially when Kindergarten learners are engaged in doing life with those they love.

Kinders are relational. They want to engage in face-to-face conversation and hand-in-hand exploration. When we talk to our children, listen to their questions, concerns, and ideas, we model interpersonal skills and they learn how to process information, feelings, and emotions. These skills are some of the most valuable nuggets our little learners will internalize in their early years. 

We purpose Kindergarten to be natural, engaging, and personal. We don’t spend extended time sitting at tables or face-to-face with workpages and fill-in the blanks. We want learning to be meaningful and relaxed, an extension of life, not segmented or overly scheduled.

Kindergarten may not look the same for you or your family. It’s part of the freedom you have to do what you feel is best needed for your children. Read and learn what’s out there, but spend most of your time observing, learning about, and enjoying nurturing your child. You will be surprised at the gains—cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically.

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Kindergarten is a gift.

Best to you as you unwrap that gift.





Kindergarten Skills

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YOU can homeschool Kindergarten.

A few things to keep in mind:

  • Kindergarten at home doesn’t have to look like Kindergarten in a traditional school for learners to make progress.

  • Being “ahead in Kindergarten” doesn’t mean the child will be ahead by third grade.

  • Mastering skills doesn’t take as long when homeschooling one-on-one.

Kindergarten Skills

Math

  • Count objects in a group to twenty

  • Associate a number with a quantity

  • Identify more than and less than to ten (quantity)

  • Identify more than and less than to twenty (quantity)

  • Number words through twenty (one, two, three, four, and so on)

  • Understand that numbers eleven to nineteen represent tens and extra ones

  • Create a pattern with two, three, and four objects

  • Understand the concept of addition as adding two or more groups to get a sum total of all objects

  • Understand meaning of “all together”

  • Understand concept of subtraction as beginning with a large group and taking some away

  • Add sets with one to five members

  • Associate the action of adding two or more groups with a symbolic (equation) representation

  • Solve word problems

  • Count by one from a number other than one

  • Count to 100 by tens

  • Make positional statement about the location of an object: above, under, left, right, front, back

  • Name common shapes and the side associated with each

  • Understand difference between two- and three-dimensional shapes

  • Recognize coins

  • Associate coin with a value

  • Write the numerals in the phone number

Language Arts

  • Recognize upper and lower case letters

  • Writing upper and lower case letters

  • Match letters to sounds

  • Recognize the beginning sound of a word

  • Recognize the ending sound of a word

  • Blend sounds

  • Recognize rhyming words

  • State a word which rhymes with another word.

  • Recognize common sight words: a, the, and, to

  • Understand the role of author and illustrator

  • Move eyes across a page from left to right

  • Explore different genres (fables, rhymes, tongue twisters, biographies, fantasies)

  • Make a prediction

  • Tell a story

  • Retell a story

  • Understand cause and effect

  • Put pictures in a proper sequence

  • Answer questions related to something heard read aloud

  • Understand the first word of a sentence is capitalized

  • Understand first letters of names and places are capitalized

  • Understand that sentences have punctuation

  • Engage in a conversation

  • Spell first and last name

  • State street address and city of residence

  • Name the members of the family and state two sentences about each member

  • Name the days of the week, in order

Social Studies

  • Expose to differences in cultures and traditions

  • Understand how past influences present and future

  • Understand family culture and heritage

  • Understand the background and significance of holidays

  • Understand meaning of recycle, reuse, repurpose

  • Develop map skills (north, south, east, west)

  • Name and locate state and country of residence

  • Name the continents

  • Learn the difference between maps and globes

  • Explain how to get to a destination visited frequently (local grocery store, navigate neighborhood to get home)

  • Understand difference between land and water

  • Recognize landforms (lake, stream, river, ocean, mountain, hill, plain)

  • Learn about different types of shelters or homes

  • Learn the roles of community workers

  • Learn roles in sharing and taking turns

  • Understand importance of conflict resolution

Science

  • Learn personal safety - wear a bike helmet, bike on the right side of the road, supervision with sharp objects)

  • Identify major body parts and describe their action and function

  • Identify the five senses

  • Name the four seasons and corresponding characteristics

  • Observe weather changes

  • Identify and describe daily weather

  • Describe differences in day and night sky

  • Describe differences in nightly changes of the moon

  • Understand differences in characteristics of ocean, desert, mountain habitats

  • Investigate and observe characteristics of soil, rock, and water

  • Understand differences of living and non-living things

  • Observe local plants and animals

  • Understand and explain differences between plants and animals

  • Describe and identify basic parts of a plant

  • Observe behaviors of animals and describe how those behaviors are related to their environment

  • Explain the difference between insects, fish, mammals, and birds

  • Describe items in terms of which they are made (cloth, wood, plastic, paper)

  • Name the physical features of items in terms of color, texture, shape, size

  • Observe changes in matter (beaten egg whites, popped corn, ice cream)

  • Understand properties and uses of water in gas, solid, and liquid form

  • Understand terms and conditions of sink and float

  • Understand why magnets are attracted to objects

  • Make predictions

  • Make observations

  • Explain a process

Physical Education

  • Increase flexibility and muscle strength

  • Understand the health benefits of being physically active

  • Participate in cardiovascular activities

  • Play follow the leader

  • Participate in the Hokey Pokey

  • Climb stairs, alternating feet

  • Balance on one foot

  • Balance on a beam or line

  • Walk backwards

  • Run at different speeds, stop on command

  • Jump

  • Hop on one foot

  • Skip

  • Gallop

  • Kick a ball

  • Dance to a rhythm

  • Understands safety precautions for familiar sports equipment

  • Throw a ball overhand

  • Throw a ball underhand

  • Throw a ball at a target

Art/Music

  • Explore elements of art: line, shape, color, texture, space)

  • Develop art vocabulary

  • Hold a paint brush properly

  • Experiment with brush movements

  • Understand proper use of glue sticks and bottles

  • Understand proper care of art supplies (paint brushes, paper, paint, glue)

  • Clean up art area properly

  • Understand safe handling and use of child-friendly scissors

  • Cut in a straight line

  • Cut on a curved line

  • Understand and name primary colors

  • Know which primary colors (red, blue, yellow) can be mixed to make secondary colors (green, purple, orange)

  • Experiment with various art mediums

  • Create a sculpture with found materials

  • Describe etiquette for an art museum

  • Make observations of visual art

  • Keep a steady beat

  • Recognize differences in tempo, fast and slow (lullaby, march)

  • Recognize differences in dynamic (loud and soft)

  • Recognize difference in pitch (high and low—drums, piccolo, violin, bass)

  • Identify basic instruments

  • Listen for specific instruments in a composition

  • Listen to music and describe tempo, dynamics, and sounds heard

  • Experiment with singing voice

  • Experiment with kazoo, recorder, harmonica, or tin whistle

  • Move to music

  • Describe etiquette for a concert

  • Attend a concert or recital

  • Listen to variety of genres of music

Young children are naturally inquisitive, if we allow them the time and space to be curious and explore.

Teaching children to observe, take notice of differences, make predictions, and ask questions fosters their natural need to learn. Kindergarten is a perfect time to engage in these activities and nurture skills.

These lists are guidelines. Home educating parents are responsible to oversee the education of their children based on each child’s individual ability. When in question, consult with a professional.