Caspar asked for a clock in his room. He asked for a watch too. When I didn't arrange for the clock he took my bedside clock (which is digital) and put it in his room. He said he needed to know what time it was. He knows at 8.00am we leave for school. He has been using the kitchen timer for a while now and knows it takes twenty minutes for his muffins to cook. He's starting to learn about time. But what about a clock? A real clock.

I purchased the most simple clock I could find. I was totally amazed at the complex and decorated clocks now aimed at children. I also got my hands on a simple learning clock face and some materials to make our own. My aim was to introduce him to the clock, not to learn to tell the time. A face, two hands, numbers all around and if you listen carefully you can hear it go tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

It was really fun and easy. There are a whole heap of printables and materials for telling the time Montessori style. We're not at that stage yet but it won't be long.

Caspar's clock is within his easy reach. In these photographs it's not set at the correct time. He keeps taking it down, playing with it and listening to it. That's ok with me. The more he plays with it the more he learns about it. 

When I was growing up I used only a digital clock until high school. When I told my mum that I couldn't tell the time on a real clock she was horrified. She soon remedied that but how did I get through seven years of schooling without learning to tell the time? It's amazing what you don't learn at school.