Telling time and doing math before kindergarten

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One of the hardest decisions for us and our second was that we were going to send her to a preschool at our church and pull her out of daycare. It was different and required a lot of adjustment for us all, but it worked well.

The second year, her pre-K year, she had an amazing teacher who really nurtured her and our little girl blossomed. She’s reading some, writing a lot, adding and subtracting in her head and has recently had a fascination with time.

It’s been the hour that tells her what’s happening. She knows “in the 5’s” that daddy gets home from work. And, that bedtime is “in the 7s” but actually looking at an analog clock and knowing what it means? She wasn’t too sure of. 

I’ve posted on Facebook and I asked last year if anybody knew of a clock that had both analog and digital displays and never found one…until now. We were sent a Telly The Teaching Time Clock by The Learning Journey International which is more than just a clock. It’s a clock that helps the kiddos learn to tell time, and display time!

Learning to tell time

It actually has two quiz modes. The first, learning mode, helps children tell time by Telly announcing the time in five minute increments by moving his hands and updating the LCD screen. (Can I just pause here to stare at her hair? Because seriously, the color is so amazing!)

Learning to tell time

The second mode is quiz mode. Telly says a time and your child moves the hands on the face to match the time displayed on his screen. If your child gets the time right, Telly lets you know, if not, Telly says the time that the clock was set to and then says again what time he was asking for. 

Learning to tell time

When Telly is not in a game mode, the LCD is a real working clock (you just have to remember to set it, and tell your kids not to push the little buttons. I wish those were hidden in the battery compartment.)  Mentioning the battery compartment, Telly required 3-AA batteries which are included (hallelujah!)

Telly has been great for both our 5 year old and our 7 year old who gets a little confused on some of the minutes on the clock. 

Once the clock needed a break, we switched to math. Our 5 year old is rocking simple math problems in her head…sometimes she can do them faster than I can! But, I think it’s good to be able to visualize them and see them, too. She pulled out the Magnetic Count & Learn board and got right to making math problems and equations.

Learning to tell time

It has 40 interlocking magnetic numbers and 10 mathematical symbols that all fit into the storage compartment on the side. Of course, she was much happier with all of the pieces all spread out so she could easily find the numbers.

Learning to do math

She even surprised me by making an equation that resulted in a number higher than 9 and put the two numbers together. The magnetic board has a lot of space for several equations, but the kit only comes with two equal sign pieces. We wish there were a couple more so that more equations could be displayed at one time.

Learning to do math

The Learning Journey International has a wide assortment of educational games and toys for all ages. We already own several puzzles that are even fun for me!

Do you remember how you learned to tell time?

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39 Comments

  1. We also used a lot of number puzzles and magnetic numbers on the fridge for our kiddos. It helped alot.

    LOVE the red curls btw!! so cute

  2. M has been asking me, “what time is it NOW?” Ever since school let out- we have been slacking on structure. I need to get a kid-friendly clock and help her work on telling time!

  3. Telling time by a clock is so important – in this age of digital – telling time is something that kids need to know – Telly is a excellent learning tool

  4. Good for you with making a hard decision about school a transition transition. It sounds like it worked out well for you and your family. My daughter just turned 5 and I should really consider working with her on a clock- thank you for the reminder. I get so busy with cooking and gardening with my children I forget the other stuff.

  5. My little man had a very similar clock, which really helped him learn to tell time. They actually learned telling time as part of the curriculum in first grade this year, but he already knew it 😉

  6. That looks like a really good clock for kiddies and the magnetic count also looks great wonder if i can get something like that here.

  7. Your girls are SO smart. What neat and fun ways to learn. We will be coming to you for help when Logan is ready for all this stuff. I’m still wondering when she will get her periodic table of the elements placemat.

  8. I love the clock. I had “Grandfather Time” which was digital and analog,and also told a bedtime story. It was high tech for the 80s!

  9. grandma pat says:

    it’s great to see toys which allow and need the kids to think on their own to use and enjoy. I am going to have to remember the website.

  10. I am totally in favor of educational toys. These look fantastic. I was wondering if they even bothered to teach children to read analog clocks anymore. And the math blocks are amazing. I wish they would have had these when my son was small.

  11. I cannot remember how I learned to tell time, but I know many teens who can’t read an analog clock. Can you imagine?? I love this clock your kids have. I may need to get something similar for our son who loves numbers, and I want to teach him to read analog and digital clocks before he begins school.

  12. My sister-in-law is just starting to teach my niece how to tell time so she knows how to do it before Kindergarten. She was actually looking for something just like this!

  13. I don’t remember learning how to tell time, but I know my kids loved their cute little clock that helped me teach them. 🙂

  14. I think this is a great learning tool for children to learn the traditional clock times and the digital versions at the same time! Great info!

  15. Those are some great learning toys! I’d love to have both for summer learning fun!

  16. She’s doing that kind of math at age five? Wow, kids are WAY ahead of what I remember. I was practically just recognizing letters at that age!

    And her hair is beyond beautiful!

  17. That’s such a cute clock! It took until my boys were learning time that I realized we only had digital clocks in our house!

  18. I’ll have to remember this when my toddler is old enough to tell time! Your daughter’s curls are to die for 🙂

  19. I remember learning to tell time was a struggle for me in school. I learned on a clock similar to the one you have in this post. I need to get one for my child.

  20. ooooh, I really, really love this post. I have tons of school stuff for my little one (homeschooling, perhaps). I’ve never seen this math board–or anything like it. I’ll definitely have to add that to our list of ideas (brands). I bookmarked this post 🙂

  21. I am so glad you found some great educational toys for your little one. I remember my son struggling a bit when learning to tell time.

  22. I like that the clock has both types of time functions on it. I also like that the clock is cute. 😉

  23. That is really cool! I will have to get these for my nephew

  24. These are awesome! My little guy is in Pre-K and I’d love for him to try these! Thanks so much for sharing!

  25. What a cute way to learn how to tell time. I love your daughters hair too, it is just gorgeous!

  26. Educational toys that are actually fun are THE BEST. The kids learn without realizing it. We bought all kinds of toys like these when my girls were little and we believe it made a huge difference!

  27. These are incredible! I love that she is learning how to love learning… even before Kindergarten.

  28. What a fun toy! Wait, teaching tool! What a great teaching tool!

  29. It does take a little while for the whole how to tell time thing to click with kid. I like the tools you have there to help teach the skill.

  30. THAT IS AWESOME
    I am headed to look at their site now – we need all that you reviewed 🙂

  31. It’s so great to prepare them before they go. We put my son in a pre-k class b/c he was so not ready for kingergarten and it made such a difference.

  32. Really cool item! I don’t remember having the same quality of things in existence when I was a kid, haha.

  33. It is great when we can find things tat make learning fun so that children learn a lot and have fun so they want to continue to learn.

  34. Oh I need to get these toys for my 2 year old. Never too early to introduce him.

  35. I have no idea. I did use a clock like telly for my oldest and my middle son. Loved that kind of clock.

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