Our class has been practicing telling time since the beginning of the year during our calendar math block of the day. We use an analog clock and we have even explored telling military time. During the last week or so however,we have incorporated time telling lessons into our math workshop and are having a little bit of trouble. Instead of only telling time, students are now also finding time intervals/elapsed time. They need to know the difference between a start and end time of a particular activity. A problem with the math curriculum we're using right now is that it requires students to find the elapsed time in only minutes. As far as I'm concerned, this seems a little extreme when talking about something that lasted for over an hour or two. It is perfectly acceptable for students to label elapsed time in hours and minutes as far as I'm concerned.
In order to continue practicing these skills, you could work with your child at home. Talk about the length of time it takes to make dinner, go to the grocery store, or clean their bedroom. The more practice they get the stronger this skill will be for them. Thank you!
