Minutes To

Teaching “minutes to”

Prerequisites: reading o’clock, half past, quarter past/to and “minutes past”. Learners should count in fives confidently before starting.

Suggested sequence (15–20 min)

1. Recap: Open Projector view on “Quarter to” level and ask “Can anyone tell me what time this is?”
2. Introduce the left side: turn hints on so the pink “TO” half is visible. Ask, “How many minutes until the hour?”
3. Model aloud: “Blue hand points at the 8. That’s 40. 60 − 40 = 20. Twenty to the next hour.”
4. Move to 5-minute, then any-minute levels and fade out the hints.

Common misconceptions

• Saying the wrong hour. At 7:50, children say “ten to seven”. Ask: “Which number is the red hand nearly at?”
• Reading the number on the clock, not the gap. Pointing at 10 means “50 past”, so the learner should count the gap to 12.
• Mixing up past and to. Use the colour halves: pink = to, blue = past.

Questions to ask

• “Is the minute hand on the ‘to’ or ‘past’ side? How do you know?”
• “How many more minutes until it’s eight o’clock?”
• “Can you show me twenty to five? Is there another way to say it?” (4:40)

Smartboard tip: use Projector view → Reveal to let pairs agree an answer on mini whiteboards before you show it. Press Space to reveal/next.

Curriculum links

UK KS1/KS2: tell and write the time to five minutes, including quarter past/to the hour (Year 2) and to the nearest minute (Year 3). 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 an analogue clock when the long (minute) hand is on the left side: “twenty-five to”, “twenty to”, “ten to” and “five to”. They count the minutes remaining until the next hour — which is a little trickier than “past”.

Why it can feel tricky

• We say the next hour, not the one the short hand has just passed.
• It uses counting backwards from 60 in fives.

Mixing these up is very normal at this age — please don’t worry!

Easy ways to help at home

• Keep an analogue clock in the kitchen and say the time out loud: “It’s ten to eight — shoes on!”
• Ask “how many minutes until…?” (school, a favourite show, bedtime).
• Practice counting in fives on the stairs or while walking.
• Let your child set the clock in the interactive above, and you guess the time.
• Keep it short and fun — 5 minutes a day is plenty.

Try this at dinner: “What time will it be in 10 minutes?” Making a game of it builds confidence quickly.