Don't forget to turn back your clocks and resources to practice telling time.

Well, it's time for the daylight savings time change to go into affect again.  You remember the little rhyme, don't you:  Spring forward and Fall Back.  It helps to us to remember which way to move the clock during the time changes.

Coming from Hawaii where there aren't any seasons and certainly no time changes, this was all new to me when I moved to Canada almost fifteen years ago.  I'm better at remembering to adjust my clocks twice a year now, but I am willing to put up with any inconvenience just to see God's glory in the changing of the seasons and watch the leaves change from green to red to gold to brown.  It is just spectacular!!

This week I was thinking about time.  What does it mean to us on a daily basis? I decided to cover it in our math lessons this week.  Let's start with a simple game.

"What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" You can hear this game being played almost daily at any play park you visit. One group asks what time it is and with their back to the other, the "wolf" tells the players the time, hoping to bring them close enough to catch them.  Well, many of us have been caught by time. We don't have enough of it, we need more of it, we wish it would slow down or speed up for our convenience. It is the difference between a cooked and burnt dinner, finishing or winning a race between friends, or hitting a yellow light or a red one in the family van. We need to teach our children not only how to tell time but how to use it wisely. 

As Catholics, we must learn to be excellent stewards of our time whether we are sitting for an hour in Mass or an hour in the Adoration Chapel with our Lord or an hour reading to our children. Begin teaching your kids how to recognize and use time (and their watch) now! 

So I thought that I would share that I have a few simple printables that you may find useful in beginning to introduce your children to time.

Math O'clock Time Match Game
This cut apart, card-matching game is for elem + and focuses on telling time to the hour without a numbered clock face.

This game uses cards depicting a non-numbered clock face and the numeral + o’clock combination to teach children to recognize time on the hour. All pictures should orient with the black dot at 12 o'clock spot. This is especially valuable for young learners who are confident in numbers but not in telling time by arm positions alone. This was created after my little one and I sat in the dentist office one day and she couldn't figure out how long it was until her appointment time because the clock face didn't have any numbers.



Telling Time Practice
This worksheet can be used for K-Gr.4 .  Learners can practice telling time by drawing hands on the face of the clocks. Learner can be assigned times to use or can choose independently and identify both the time in digits as well as by drawing the hands on the face of the clock.





Calendar Fun worksheets
Calendars are another method of tracking and daily counting that can help children get a handle on the concept of time.  Practice time recognition using our calendar worksheets that kids can really relate to.  Interactive fun involves recognizing days of the week, ordinal numbers, simple counting and recognizing picture clues. I had planned to do the entire year originally but I just never got back to this set.  At any rate you can get worksheets for Calendar Fun Worksheet for November and Calendar Fun Worksheet for September.

We also covered time in our planet studies this week comparing how long a day was on each planet versus our 24 hour day here on earth.  Kiddos had lots of fun with this project and it is a great piece when it is completed to show case what they have learned - it even includes poetry.  I'll be sharing that resource shortly. If you are covering planets and space in your learning, you won't want to miss it.

Don't forget to make time to pray for those you love and the Holy Souls this week!

Blessings,

Kalei