Minutes Past

Teaching minutes past

Prerequisites: o’clock, half past, quarter past, and counting in fives around the clock.

Suggested sequence (10–15 min)

1. Recap: Show quarter past and half past on the right side. “What other times are on this side?”
2. Count it: Move the blue hand one number at a time, counting 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Say “five past”, “ten past”…
3. Read the hour: “Which hour has the red hand just passed?”
4. Practice: Use Projector view, starting with five and ten past, then adding twenty and twenty-five past.

Common misconceptions

• Saying the next hour. At twenty past 6 the hour hand is between 6 and 7, but the hour is still 6.
• Reading the number as minutes. “Hand on 2” is ten past, not “two past”.
• Confusing 5 and 1. Practice “five past” (hand on 1) beside “one o’clock”.

Questions to ask

• “Is the blue hand on the past side or the to side?”
• “What number is it on? How many minutes is that?”

Curriculum links

UK Year 2: tell and write the time to five minutes. UK Year 3: tell and write the time from an analogue clock. US CCSS 2.MD.7: tell and write time to the nearest five minutes.

What your child is learning

Your child is learning to read times like ten past four or twenty past six. The long hand is on the right side of the clock, and the short hand has just passed the hour.

Why it can feel tricky

• The clock numbers mean something different for minutes (hand on 2 = 10 minutes).
• The hour hand sits between two numbers, so children aren’t sure which hour to say.

Easy ways to help at home

• Say the time in “past” words through the day: “It’s ten past seven, shoes on!”
• Ask your child to count in 5s up to the number the long hand is on.
• Play “Where’s the blue hand?” with a real clock.
• Keep it short and playful. 2 or 3 minutes at a time is plenty.

Try this: “It’s five past four. What will the time be in five more minutes?” (Ten past four!)