How to explain read clocks and write times: to the minute in time to your student. Example question
31 October 2026
Learning to read clocks to the minute helps children tell the exact time, not just the nearest five minutes. This skill is important for daily routines, school timetables, and building confidence with time questions.
Worked example
Look at this clock. The short hand is on the 7. The long hand is on the 23rd minute mark after the 12.
Step 1: Find the hour. The short hand is on 7. So the hour is 7.
Step 2: Count the minute marks from the 12. The long hand is on the 23rd mark. So the minutes are 23.
Step 3: Write the time as 7:23.
The correct answer is 7:23.
After working through this example, your child will spot the hour and minute hands and write the time correctly. The next step is to practise similar questions, so they can read and write times to the minute with ease.
