In Year 2, telling the time moves on to quarter past and quarter to, on both clock faces and digital displays. Children also learn how many minutes are in an hour, the months of the year and how to work out how long something lasts.
What your child will learn
- Tell the time to quarter past and quarter to the hour
- Match clock times to digital times such as 4:15 and 7:45
- Know there are 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day
- Name the months of the year in order
- Work out how many hours an event lasts
Quarter past and quarter to
Split the clock face into four quarters of 15 minutes. Quarter past is 15 minutes after the hour (3:15) and quarter to is 15 minutes before the next hour (3:45 is quarter to 4).
The trickiest part is “quarter to”: 3:45 still starts with 3 on a digital clock, but we name it after the hour that is coming — 4. Clock Tower includes this mix-up on purpose so children learn to spot it.
How long does it last?
To find how long something lasts, count on from the start time to the end time. A party from 2 o’clock to 5 o’clock lasts 3 hours: 3, 4, 5.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. What time does the clock show?
🕑- 3 o’clock
- 1 o’clock
- 2 o’clock
- half past 2
Show answer
Answer: 2 o’clock. The long minute hand points straight up to 12 and the short hour hand points to 2, so it is 2 o’clock.
2. Which digital time means “quarter past 12”?
- 12:15
- 12:20
- 1:15
- 12:45
Show answer
Answer: 12:15. “Quarter past 12” means 15 minutes after 12 o’clock: 12:15.
3. A digital clock shows 7:00. How do we say this time?
- 8 o’clock
- 7 o’clock
- quarter past 7
- half past 7
Show answer
Answer: 7 o’clock. 7:00 means no minutes past 7, so it is exactly 7 o’clock.
Tips for grown-ups
- Say quarter past and quarter to times aloud whenever you check the clock.
- Look at digital clocks on the oven or microwave and say the time in words.
- Ask “How long until dinner?” and count on in hours together.