This week we embarked on learning to tell the time. Oh my word. What was I thinking. And poor, poor Freya.
We have “O’Clock” nailed. Easy. Great. Woohoo! And honestly that’s where the success ends, so far at least.
“So, Freya, if this is 6 o’clock where’s half past 6? Where’s half past?”
“Half?”
“Yes, it’s half past six, where’s that?”
A very confused look.
“Ok, so there’s 60 minutes in an hour, yes?”
“An hour?”
“Yes, an hour. Hour (me writing it)”
“H…our.”
“No, not h…our. A silent h.”
“Eh?”
“Forgot it, doesn’t matter. There’s 60 minutes in an hour.”
“But what’s an hour?”
“Errr, it’s 60 minutes. Stop with the questions. Now focus. So if there’s 60 minutes in an hour, what’s half an hour.”
Another confused, possibly frightened look now that I think about it.
“What’s half of 60?” Still nothing. “Ok, what’s half of 6?”
“3!”
“Yes! So half of 60 is…?”
“3?”
“No! Half of 60 isn’t 3.”
“30. Sorry daddy. Would you like a coffee?”
“Yes. Thank you. Now, so half of 60 is 30.”
I point at the 6. Freya stares nervously at it possibly with the thought that I’d lost the plot, which I had in point of fact.
“But daddy that’s a 6? 3 was half of 6. 3s there.”
“No, no, no, no. The 6 is 30 minutes, 30 minutes is half past. Got it. The number 3 is a quarter past.”
“What’s a quarter past, daddy?”
“That’s when the minute hand goes a quarter of the way around the clock. See, like this.”
I action the broom (aka the minute hand) reaching the 3.
“That’s a quarter past. Or 15 minutes?
“The 3 is a 15?”
“Yes, your getting it. The 3 is 15 minutes. A quarter past.”
Ah, delight!
“So 3 is a quarter of 60?”
“What?! Noooo! A 3 is a quarter of a whole. Errr, when the whole is 12 that is. Let’s look at another question. Ok, show me 10.15?”
It’s fair to say it’s a challenging topic. Possibly one approached slowly, bit by bit. And I thoroughly recommend getting someone else to do it for you. We did move on to a quarter past and a quarter to but perhaps we can talk about that another time. I’m off for a glass of wine!
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Up, down 