Analysis of primary school children’s abilities and strategies for reading and recording time from analogue and digital clocks

Sixty-seven children in Grades 1–3 and 66 children in Grades 4–6 were tested for their ability to read and record analogue and digital times. The children in Grades 4–6 were asked to describe their strategies. A sequence of time acquisition was proposed, based on a recent theory of cognitive development and the literature. This was: hour, half hour, quarter hour, five minute, and minute times. Times after the hour would be more difficult and digital times would be learned sooner. The sequence was confirmed for Grades 1–3; irregularities occurred in Grades 4–6. Some implications are drawn for the teaching of time.