How to tell time on an analog clock: a step-by-step guide for parents

Your seven-year-old reads 7:45 off the oven display in a second, then stares at the kitchen wall clock and guesses "nine-something". Learning how to tell time, or how to read a clock with hands, comes down to two hands, twelve numbers and counting by 5s. With five short steps and ten minutes a day, most children move from o'clock to the nearest minute over grades 1 to 3.

Why reading an analog clock still matters

Reading an analog clock is still part of the school curriculum, and it builds number sense that a digital display skips. A clock face shows time as a position, so a child can see that 3:45 is "almost 4" and that half an hour is half a turn of the long hand.

US schools teach telling time over three years. Common Core standard 1.MD.B.3 asks first graders to "tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks".

Standard 2.MD.C.7 moves to "the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.", and 3.MD.A.1 asks third graders to "tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes". The overview of what math each grade should know shows where clocks sit next to place value and addition.

England follows a similar order. The national curriculum for England asks Year 1 pupils to "tell the time to the hour and half past the hour", Year 2 to "tell and write the time to five minutes, including quarter past/to the hour", and Year 3 to read Roman numerals and 12-hour and 24-hour clocks.

The two hands do two jobs

The two hands on a clock do two different jobs. The short hand is the hour hand, and it makes one trip around the clock in 12 hours. The long hand is the minute hand, and it makes one trip in 60 minutes.

Each hand reads the same twelve numbers in its own way. The hour hand reads them as hours: 1, 2, 3 up to 12. The minute hand reads them as groups of 5 minutes: the 1 means 5, the 2 means 10, and the 6 means 30.

How to tell time on a clock, step by step

How to tell time on a clock is best taught in five stages, each one built on the last. Spend a week or more on each stage, and move on only when your child reads the current stage without hesitation.

1. Start with o'clock. Set the long hand on the 12 and move only the short hand. The short hand on 3 and the long hand on 12 reads "3 o'clock", written 3:00.
2. Add half past. Move the long hand to the 6 and show that it has gone halfway around. Half an hour is 30 minutes, so half past 3 is 3:30, and the short hand now sits halfway between the 3 and the 4.
3. Add quarter past and quarter to. Split the clock into four quarters of 15 minutes. The long hand on the 3 is quarter past (3:15), and the long hand on the 9 is quarter to the next hour (3:45 is quarter to 4).
4. Count the minute hand by 5s. Point to each number and count 5, 10, 15 up to 55. A long hand on the 8 means 8 × 5 = 40 minutes, so a short hand past the 6 and a long hand on the 8 reads 6:40.
5. Read to the nearest minute. Count by 5s to the last number the long hand passed, then count the small marks one at a time. Two marks past the 4 is 20 + 2 = 22 minutes.

Step 4 rests on skip counting. A child who can count by 5s to 60 without stopping reads the minute hand in seconds, and the guide to skip counting shows how to build that count with hands, coins and a hundred chart.

Play free in your browserMultiples RushGrade 3–5

The part people get wrong: the hour hand between numbers

The part people get wrong is the hour hand when it sits between two numbers. The hour hand creeps forward all hour long and never jumps at the top of the hour. At 2:50 it sits almost on the 3, and a child who reads "the nearest number" says 3:50.

The rule is to read the number the short hand has passed, not the one it is closest to. Between the 2 and the 3, the hour is 2 until the long hand reaches the 12 again. Ask "which number did the short hand pass last?" before every reading.

The hour hand also moves at a steady speed: half an hour moves it halfway between two numbers, and 15 minutes moves it a quarter of the way.

How to read a clock: analog vs digital vs 24-hour

How to read a clock depends on the kind of clock in front of you. The three kinds show the same time in different ways.

Which clock to teach first

The analog clock is the one to teach first, because the digital display gives the answer without the meaning. A child who knows that the long hand on the 9 means 45 minutes can read 7:45 on any clock. Introduce the 24-hour clock once 12-hour times are secure, which is Year 3 in England.

Practice telling time at home

Practicing telling time at home works best in short sessions tied to real events. Ten minutes a day beats an hour on Saturday, and a clock the child can touch beats a worksheet.

• Name the time at routines: Ask the time at breakfast, before leaving for school and at bedtime. Say the time both ways: "7:30, half past 7".
• Use time words for plans: Say "we leave at quarter past 8" and ask your child to watch the clock and tell you when it arrives.
• Set the clock yourself: Call out a time and let your child set the hands. Setting a time is harder than reading one, so it shows real understanding.
• Count elapsed time: Ask how long until dinner at 6:00 when the clock reads 5:35. Count by 5s from 35 to 60: 25 minutes.

Make a paper-plate clock

A paper-plate clock is a practice tool you can make in ten minutes. Write 12, 3, 6 and 9 first so the numbers are spaced evenly, then fill in the rest. Cut a short hand and a long hand from card in two colors, and pin them to the center with a paper fastener.

Write the minute values 0, 5, 10 up to 55 around the outside in a second color, as in the large clock above. Children use the outer ring for the first weeks, and you can cover it with tape once they count by 5s from memory. The four clocks for 3:00, 3:15, 3:30 and 3:45 show the same quarter turns, and the guide to fractions for parents explains why "quarter" and "half" mean the same here as they do with a pizza.

How to measure progress with telling time

Five quick questions show whether your child reads a clock or guesses. Set each time on the paper-plate clock and ask for the answer out loud.

• The o'clock check: 9:00. A child who says "9 o'clock" without counting has stage 1.
• The half-past check: 4:30. Listen for "half past 4", and watch whether the child notices the short hand is between the 4 and the 5.
• The quarter check: 10:45. A correct "quarter to 11" or "10:45" shows stage 3.
• The five-minute check: 1:25. The child should count 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 on the long hand.
• The one-minute check: 8:37. Count by 5s to 35, then two small marks: 37 minutes.

A two-minute clock test

A two-minute clock test uses three times: one on the hour, one on a five-minute mark and one tricky one. Try 6:00, 11:20 and 2:55. The last one has the hour hand almost on the 3, so a correct "2:55" means the child reads the hour hand by the number it passed.

Repeat the test each week with new times and write the date and the result. A child who reads all three correctly two weeks in a row is ready for the next stage. A child who stalls at the minute hand often needs the count by 5s, and the math game for 2nd graders covers the counting and adding within 100 that elapsed-time problems use.

Play free in your browserAdding 2-Digit NumbersGrade 1–2

Common mistakes when telling time

Four mistakes cause most wrong clock readings, and each has a quick fix.

• Swapping the hands: The child reads the long hand as the hour. Use two colors on the practice clock and say "short hand, hour; long hand, minutes" before each reading.
• Reading 2:50 as 3:50: The hour hand is close to the 3 but has not passed it. Ask which number the short hand passed last.
• Reading the minute number as minutes: A long hand on the 4 gets read as "4 minutes". Count by 5s out loud: the 4 means 20.
• Confusing quarter to: "Quarter to 4" gets written 4:15. Quarter to means 15 minutes before the hour, so it is 3:45.

Edge case: noon, midnight, a.m. and p.m.

Noon and midnight are the edge case that confuses adults as well as children. The hours from midnight to noon are a.m., and the hours from noon to midnight are p.m.

Grade 2 standard 2.MD.C.7 adds a.m. and p.m. to five-minute times, so breakfast at 7:15 is 7:15 a.m., and the same clock after dinner reads 7:15 p.m.

The time 12:00 is the hardest reading, because noon is neither before nor after noon: NIST, the US time authority says "12 a.m. and 12 p.m. are ambiguous and should not be used".

Teach your child to say "12 noon" and "12 midnight", and to read 00:00 on a 24-hour clock as midnight at the start of a day.

Your telling-time checklist and next steps

• Two hands: the short hand shows the hour, and the long hand shows the minutes.
• Count by 5s: each number on the clock face adds 5 minutes, from 0 at the 12 to 55 at the 11.
• Passed, not nearest: read the hour from the number the short hand has passed.
• Quarters: quarter past is 15 minutes, half past is 30, and quarter to is 45.
• A.m. and p.m.: a.m. runs from midnight to noon, p.m. from noon to midnight.
• Daily practice: read one real clock at each meal, and set the paper-plate clock once a day.

MathIt is a free app for iOS and Android with about 90 game types, adaptive difficulty and a short daily practice that keeps the counting and adding behind clock reading fresh. The math game for 1st graders and the free printable worksheets cover the same number skills, and families can play math games together in real-time battles for 2 to 5 players.