How to help your kid tell the time (Private Home Tuition Tips in Singapore)


How to help your kid tell the time

If your kid is struggling to tell the time in Primary 2, we’ve got you covered with some amazing private home tuition tips and activities that you can use right now! Discover the latest methods for helping P2 students tell the time with ease. Before long, they’ll be time-telling superstars and will sail through their P2 math learning objectives.

What are the best time activities for Primary 2 math private home tuition?
The best activities are  

1. Time telling hooks
2. Time dominos
3. Telling the time board game

Why use time activities for private home tuition in Singapore?
Time-telling activities such as reading analog clocks are a fun alternative to homework and worksheets that most kids take home from school. Activities are fast, fun and effective and will have any Primary 2 student learning to read the time confidently in no time! So, whether you’re a parent planning to teach time at home or a private home tutor in Singapore looking for the latest tips and tricks, these time-telling activities are just what you need!

The best way to teach time to Primary 2 in a private home tuition setting
The awesome free website IXL offers an excellent roadmap for helping to build your child’s confidence in time.

You should start easy with matching analog clocks and time, as shown below:

You should then familiarize your child with more complex terms such as o’clock, ‘half’ and ‘quarter’. The following activity is a good start:

IXL is an excellent resource, but time can be a hard concept to grasp for many P2 students. That’s why we have picked out the best activities for teaching time to P2 students in Singapore. These activities are great for extra practice at home, or as part of a course delivered by a private home math tutor in Singapore.

The best time activity for private math home tuition in Singapore
1. Telling Time Hooks
Telling the time is tough as it’s quite an abstract concept. The number ‘1’ on a clock face can represent a range of concepts. It could be one o’clock when the hour hand is pointing at it, or five minutes when the minute hand is pointing there. It takes quite a leap in thinking for most P2 students to grasp that 1 = 5, 2 = 10 and 3 = 15, and so on.

We recommend making the abstract concept of telling the time more concrete for your kid. Use pipe cleaners to make little hooks that point backward. As the hour hand moves around the clock, these hooks will remind your kid how the hour space works.

All you’ll need to get started are some pipe cleaners.

Image Credit: Around the Kamp Fire

Have your kids make a hook to tell the time past the hour, as shown below:

Image Credit: Around the Kamp Fire

Your kid will have a blast with the simple game, ‘Make a hook’! Simply set the clock to a certain time, have them make a hook and use a piece of sticky tape to affix it to the hour hand.

Before long, they’ll have mastered the way that times past the hour work and will be confidently reading ‘half past’, ‘quarter past’ and ‘quarter to’ times with ease.

The second best time activity for private math home tuition in Singapore
2. Time Dominos
Time Dominoes are a fun way of helping your Primary 2 kid master time without feeling like their doing work. The great thing about these dominoes is that you can make your own and choose the level of difficulty.

Start with o’clock times, then move on to ‘half-past’ times and then ‘quarter to’ and ‘quarter past’ times.

Image credit: Mathtechconnections

If you’re looking to get started, you can download blank clock faces from Mathtechconnections and easily make your own set of dominoes. Printing them on paper is fine, but you may want to use card so that they last longer.

The third best time activity for private math home tuition in Singapore
2. Telling the time board game
Our third idea for teaching time to Primary 2 students is to use a board game. Board games are commonly used at private maths tuition centers around Singapore and by private math home tutors. They help get kids thinking, talking and learning without stressing too much!

This cool free game – Time Flies! – comes from Around the Kamp Fire and is a great introductory game to use if your kid is struggling to read analog times.

Image credit: Around the Kamp Fire

This simple Roll and read game just requires the board, some blocks, and a dice. Take turns to roll the dice and reading the times you land on – it’s that simple!

Start with the easier board that including telling the time to the hour and half hour. Once your kid has mastered that, move onto the more difficult board where they can practice telling the time to 5 minutes.

Have fun with the best time activities for private home tuition in Singapore!
Our fantastic time activities should help your Primary 2 kid tell the time with ease. These activities are commonly used in private tuition centers in Singapore and by private home tutors, so why not use them too? They get good results and kids will have fun learning as they play!

If you want the latest tips and ideas for private home tuition in Singapore, be sure to check out our blog!