Hello everyone,

This past month I had the opportunity to visit the Black Forest, in Germany. This lesson and post are inspired by this trip.
In the little town of Triberg, I visited the world’s biggest Cuckoo Clock.
I was very impressed. I was super excited to see that little bird come out and do it’s thing.

Across from the clock there was a creek, the sounds of the rushing of the water plus the excitement of all the tourist (my own kids included) made the experience such an exciting one. When the clock stroke 12 noon and the little bird came out and announced to us the time, the giggles filled the air.

Guess what? I came home really excited about clocks. Of course while we were there we bought our very own Cuckoo Clock, every hour the little bird announces the time, every time my kids run around the house saying “it’s cuckoo time”.

Did you know that many kids can’t read time on an analog clock? Well I didn’t know it either!

Recently I saw an article about kids not being able to tell time on an analog watch and I was worried…
http://kfor.com/2017/03/12/study-4-in-5-oklahoma-city-students-cant-read-clocks/
I believe that learning is power. I am a believer of home literacy. Home literacy is when parents provides literacy activities at home to support learning.
To help me teach my kids, and maybe to inspire you to help yours as well I decided to write this blog post. Remember, when we work together we can achieve more. I also create a worksheet to help you practice telling time with your little one…

“Mom, who invented time?”

The exciting thing about our cuckoo clock was that my little ones began to be interested in time.
I started using that little bird as a measurement of time. “You have to read until the next cuckoo” I may say, or “when the cuckoo comes out to announce the time, it is bed time”.
These little reminders started to be constant in my house.
Then my son, asked me…. “Mom, who invented time?”
I was like “what, what?”

Well, I know that time is relative to where you are. Time has always existed. As long as the earth goes around the sun, then there is always time.
The truth is, he wanted to know “how and why we started to measure time”.
So, I went out on a quest, to discover, who invented clocks… I figured this would suffice his curiosity…
Remember, in life if you are not learning, you are not living…

So, I wrote a little summary of what I learned, for your enjoyment.
I also used my son’s curiosity to teach him how to read time.

In a conventional classroom, teachers will teach students how to read time, however, at home we can re-teach, and enrich a lesson and I hope the attachments on this post helps you teach, re-teach, or enrich your child’s life. I created a worksheet for you to work with your little ones and help them understand and apply the concept of time.

You are free to use the lesson for educational purposes only.
You may not publish it on your blog/book/website without written permission.

This is a resource for you!

I hope you are inspired to help your student learn about time!

Clocks 1st and 2nd grade

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Much love,

Raquel

Telling Time

By: Sophia James Education, LLC

The world is fascinated by how “time” goes by fast or how we never have enough “time” in a day. For ages the concept of time have fascinated people. For thousand of years time was measured by observing the movement of the sun, moon, or stars.  We have used sundials and also clocks for many years to measure time.

In order to record or indicate time devices were created. The devices are clocks, watches, and sundials. The oldest of these three devices are the sundials or shadow clocks. Many years ago people used sundials to indicate time of the day by the position of the shadows of objects on which the rays of the sun falls on. Throughout the day the sun moves across the sky, causing the shadows of the objects to move.

Clocks, are machines that performs regular movements in equal intervals of time and is linked to a counting mechanisms that records the number of movements. The word clock comes from the Greek  hora (“time”) and logos (“telling”). All clocks, of whatever form, are made with the principle of regular movements and equal intervals.

Sometimes it is important to measure time exactly, such as when conducting an experiment or baking or when setting an appointment. Sometimes accuracy is not so important example when we are on vacation and have no timed plans.

It is believed that shadow clocks or sundials known as gnomon,  were the first device for indicating time. This sundial consisted of one vertical stick or pillar; the shadow that it cast gave an indication of the time of the day. As time passed these sundials became more complex and telling time through different type of clocks were invented.

Here is a picture of a sundial clock located in the city center of Rothenburg Od. der Tauber.

If you would like to build a sundial you can print one! The NASA website has a very accurate one!

In the year 1582 Galileo noticed the timekeeping property of the pendulum at this time the pendulum which was a weight attached to a predetermined size cord it was used by medical doctors to count the pulse of patients.

Around 1656 the Dutch astronomer and physicist Christian Huygens started using the pendulum as time controller in clocks. His invention brought great importance and extent to clockmaking. Clocks, weight driven, with short pendulums, were encased in wood and made to hang on the wall.

An English clockmaker, named William Clement, introduced the long, or seconds, pendulum in 1670. After that they enclosed the pendulum and weights, that is when the long case or grandfather clock was born.

Our modern mechanical clock consists of gears that transmits motion from a weight or spring to the minute and hour hand. They are very accurate and they move steadily. A simple 12 to 1  gearing, known as motion work, gives the necessary step down ratio to drive the hour hand. The spindle carrying the minute hand is provided with a simple slipping clutch that allows hands to be set to the correct time.

Watches were mostly made in England by hand, most of the watches were pocket watches for men. It is said that one day an English, horse dealer, was traveling through Swiss one day and his watch was broken. He showed the watch to a blacksmith who had a son named Daniel Jean Richard (1672- 1741). Daniel was fascinated with the watch and implored the Englishman to repair it.

Daniel was so intrigued with the watch that he decided to make a watch himself, after 18 months he succeeded. The five sons of Jean-Richard ended by devoting themselves to this new industry.

The opportunity to work indoors during the long winter months was welcomed by the Swiss community. By the 1800 whole families were making parts of watches and the master maker would then assemble and market these watches. In 1850 Swiss invested in the machinery necessary to watchmaking.

By 1900 the Swiss production surpassed the British production. By 1914 wrist and bracelet watches were firmly established. By the 1920’s watch making was Switzerland’s most important industry.

Time makes the world go around!