Developmentally appropriate ways to teach time
Teaching time is complicated and confusing – how can a number mean one thing when a long hand is on it, but something entirely different when a short hand is pointing to it? It just doesn’t make sense, especially not to preschoolers who don’t really understand symbolic thinking.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t use the clock in your classroom. I am always an advocate for exposing children to concepts so that they feel comfortable with them when it comes time to learn more. Here are some developmentally appropriate ways to use the clock in your preschool classroom;
Arrange your daily schedule as if it were on a clock – from Miss Nelson’s Got the Camera
Make pretend watches with moveable hands – from Nurture store
Make multiple clocks and set them for specific times throughout the day so children can practice matching the location of the hands – from MPM Ideas
Make your clock something that children want to look at by including it in your classroom decor – from J. Alejandra on Pinterest
These are all great ideas for making sure that preschoolers pay attention to the clock, without requiring them to tell time. These might spark curiosity in exploring different kinds of clocks and what they all mean.
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