Year 3 explorers tell the time to the nearest five minutes, work out durations in minutes, and convert between seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.
What your child will learn
- Tell the time to five minutes, using past and to
- Match times in words to digital times
- Work out how many minutes an activity lasts
- Convert between units of time, such as hours and minutes
- Know the number of days in each month
Counting in fives round the clock
Each number on a clock face is 5 minutes apart, so children count in fives to read the minute hand. Up to the 6 we say “past” the hour; after the 6 we say “to” the next hour: 4:40 is twenty to 5.
Working out durations
To find how long something lasts, count on from the start to the end. If it crosses an hour, jump to the o’clock first: from 2:45 to 3:10 is 15 minutes to 3:00, then 10 more — 25 minutes.
Days in each month
The rhyme “30 days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, except February, which has 28 — or 29 in a leap year” is still the easiest way to remember.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. A digital clock shows 3:30. How do we say this time?
- half past 3
- half to 3
- quarter past 3
- half past 4
Show answer
Answer: half past 3. 3:30 is 30 minutes past 3, which we say as “half past 3”.
2. A digital clock shows 6:30. How do we say this time?
- quarter past 6
- half past 7
- half past 6
- half to 6
Show answer
Answer: half past 6. 6:30 is 30 minutes past 6, which we say as “half past 6”.
3. A digital clock shows 2:10. How do we say this time?
- ten past 2
- ten to 2
- ten past 3
- quarter past 2
Show answer
Answer: ten past 2. 2:10 is 10 minutes past 2, which we say as “ten past 2”.
Tips for grown-ups
- Ask “How long until we leave?” and count on in fives together.
- Time everyday tasks — brushing teeth, walking to school — with a stopwatch.
- Count months on your knuckles: knuckles have 31 days, gaps have 30 (or February’s 28).