How Analog Clocks Help Kids Understand Time Better
Jan 19, 2024
The Ability to perceive time is something we struggle with at our house. And I hear this a lot from parents that I work with. Your kiddo might constantly ask you if it’s been 30 minutes and it’s only been 2 minutes since they last asked. Or maybe they lose track of time easily and no matter how many times you remind them it’s still a rush to get out the door.
This is so common when your executive functions are lagging. It’s called time blindness. And you live in the here and now. It’s why kiddos (or adults) are often late and stink at planning the time it will take to get tasks done.
Here are 5 ways your child might be struggling with time:
- Time estimation: This is when your kid is asking you every 2 minutes how much time has passed.
- Time horizon: helps your child know how quickly a task or activity is approaching. It’s their Future thinking skills. Your kiddo may be labeled a procrastinator.
- Time management: Planning out how much time it will take to do your task.
- Time sequencing: Making sure tasks are done in the right order.
- Time reproduction: Repeating a task that you’ve done in the past for the same amount of time you did before.
So what can we do about it?
The first step is simple. We need to help our kids SEE time!
How do you do it? Bring back the analog clock!!!
Think back to your school years of sitting in class watching the clock. You were seeing and feeling time. You knew that at 11:45 it was lunch, and you watched the minute hand get closer and closer.
When we use a digital clock (or timer), we don’t see that.
And the more we move away from the analog clock the more difficult it is for ANY kid to feel time.
At our house, we love to create blocks of time on our “doing” clock with a dry-erase marker. But I’ll walk you through that another day.
For now, work towards reframing your mindset with your child and know that they aren't doing it to make you mad. It’s a lagging skill, and not your kid is trying to be disrespectful.
