At least 31 states and the District of Columbia restrict cell phones in schools
I had to take the lead on making sure my kid can read a clock. They touch on it at school, but he hadn’t mastered it by the time they moved on.
Had this issue back in the 90s before kids had cell phones though, at least at my school. We got a brand new elementary school at the time and the only clocks they had were digital and a lot of teachers brought in analog ones only to find out a lot of students couldn’t read them because they had no analog at home anymore either. I can read them but it always takes my brain a few seconds to fully engage it.
Do they not teach reading clocks in school anymore? I remember like a quarter of first grade math being nothing but learning to read an analog clock. Surely if you’re a school and discover a bunch of your students are lacking in a basic skill, that’s a failure on your part as educators, not somehow a fault that your students don’t have clocks at home. You said the 90s though, which was when I was in elementary, so maybe I just got lucky to have a school that assumed they had to teach us everything.
I was taught in school, but that was…several many oodles of decades ago. Fucked if I know if they teach it now lol. I was taught the clock, it’s just for some reason my brain really does the calculations slowly.
I remember really struggling with it as a kid and I still have the same “ok, think through it, what time is it likely to be? Etc.” as you, to an extent. But much much less these days vs how I was, but it was always a focused effort for a long time for me.
Can’t say I’m surprised. I went to a charter high school for advanced math and science nerds, graduating in 2007. Even in a school full of “gifted” students I could tell the class after mine seemed a little derpy. I can only imagine the disappointment teachers at regular schools must feel day after day.
And? The clock face with the hour and minute hands only dates back to like 1700. A three hundred year run for an arbitrary method of showing time is a decent run. Doesn’t need to be artificially extended out just because olderv people prefer it, would be like forcing first graders to learn Aramaic.
Fewer places have public clocks because of the assumption that everyone has a phone. I’ve found it more and more useful to wear a watch as an adult.
I have discalculia, I could not read an analog clock until I was maybe 16 and even then it took a lot of time for me to figure out anything past what hour it was, because of course I couldn’t learn the multiplication table to memory.
So the minute hand is halfway between 6 and 7. Each number represents 5 minutes so just multiply that number by 5. Sorry I can’t do that without a calculator or a multiplication table right in front of my eyes.
Not once have I multiplied the number the minute digit is pointing to by 5 when reading a clock.
There are four checkpoints for me : 15, 30, 45 and 60 (full hour) at the quarter points. I just add 5 minutes or subtract 5 minutes for every 5 minute step depending on what quarter point is closer.
I love analogue clocks but times are changing and the reasons to learn how to read it are vanishing. I won’t be like the boomers with their cursive writing. Don’t learn what you don’t use.
Except we very much still use analogue clocks. They’re everywhere. Being able to read a clock when your cell phone isn’t handy is still a useful skill. And it’s not like it’s that hard to learn to read one. If you can’t figure out an analogue clock with a few minutes of instruction, well, you’ve got bigger issues.
Quick question: How much time have you spent the last 48 hours with no digital clock in reach?
I fail to see the relevance of the question. My personal experience isn’t applicable to everyone else.
Who still uses analogue clocks? I haven’t seen one in ages other than on watches.
I’ve had the opposite experience. I learn many things I don’t use because knowing them makes me see and think things differently and expands my mind.
Absolutely do learn things you don’t think you need. Everything will be useful eventually in life. I’ve proved that to myself many times.
Very true but in the case of clocks it’s a bit of a stretch. Though, it will be useful if the child wants to do modular arithmetic one day.
Speaking as someone who writes in cursive, has a couple of nice clocks and watches, and can drive a manual transmission… Yeah, times are a changing. I think it is fun to learn those skills, but not necessary. My school didn’t teach me how to hitch up a team of horses, nor how to sharpen an axe or load a flintlock musket. Digital clocks are cheap enough and common enought that learning analog is not strictly necessary.
“Don’t learn what you don’t use”
Sure but if you wear an analog watch you just learned how to use your analog watch. It’s not that hard
Be careful not to melt your tiny brain by learning something as easy as reading an analog clock.
Ah I sense your brain is enormous. Can you even do 24h format?
