It’s 10 and 4 now. Obviously by all the comments there is no consistency amongst instructors.

My 17yo learned the rudiments in ES, and we worked on it at home. But I think if I hadn’t deliberately bought her an analog alarm clock and an analog watch in late ES, it’s likely she’d have lost the skill by now. She still wears an analog watch, and keeps a cool retro-looking analog clock in her room.

But the other day, we needed to leave at three o’clock; when she asked me “What time is it now?”, I replied that it was “quarter ‘til.” Not sure how she’d never heard that phrase before, but she looked at me like I was speaking Klingon. “Quarter what? Huh?”

Of course, she’s a teenager, so it’s entirely possible she knew exactly what I meant, and was just gently mocking her Gen X mom and her ancient ways.

But now I’m second-guessing myself—I thought this was a thing everyone said? You know, “quarter to/‘til,” “quarter after” the hour. Or maybe it’s just a Southern thing, so it’s less common here?

A "hand clock"?

Yes.

This is a second grade Common Core math skill.

FYI... when you're teaching your kids to drive, the proper hand position is now 8 and 4.

Anonymous wrote:This is strange-it’s so useful to be able to describe location with face positions even if they’re not good at reading analog time I’d think they could envision a clockdace!

Not if they don't see one regularly, I guess.

This is strange-it’s so useful to be able to describe location with face positions even if they’re not good at reading analog time I’d think they could envision a clockdace!

Now she does, at 14! It took an astonishingly long time, and she has no special needs of any kind. My other kid with special needs could read an analog clock from early elementary!

It's weird what kids decide they can't or won't do, when they most certainly can

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not taught well in elementary any more. It was barely introduced in 1st grade and then deemphasized due to Covid, never to be taught again.

My daughter is learning it in first grade now in APS. We don’t have any analog clocks in our house, so she won’t use it much.

My second grader had a whole unit on this in math (MCPS) plus he got an analog watch for his bday.

Anonymous wrote:My otherwise extremely bright and accomplished 26-year-old has trouble reading a clock. He has to stare at it for a few seconds, like it's in a foreign language. It's truly amazing to me.

Did you not teach him??

Yes, we have analog clocks everywhere in the house.

I just asked my 15 yr old DC who just got their permit.. "if the instructor tells you to put your hands on the 10 and 2..", and DC just interrupted me and said, "Yea, like the clock..", and put their hands up on the 10 and 2 position.

We taught them to read an analog clock in early ES, but I also recall a unit in 2nd grade where they were learning how to read a clock. It's actually good to learn for math, too, for numeracy.

There's a thread about an older HSer who doesn't know how to call, email, etc.. to get information, and what type of college should such a person go to. These are general life skills that should be taught at home before they go off to college.

Anonymous wrote:It’s not taught well in elementary any more. It was barely introduced in 1st grade and then deemphasized due to Covid, never to be taught again.

OP is talking about high schoolers, who had plenty of exposure to that in elementary before Covid shut down. My kid is a freshman and can tell time perfectly well on a hand clock. It wasn't "barely introduced" in his classes and he went to an ES that's regularly bashed on this site.

Anonymous wrote:It’s not taught well in elementary any more. It was barely introduced in 1st grade and then deemphasized due to Covid, never to be taught again.

My daughter is learning it in first grade now in APS. We don’t have any analog clocks in our house, so she won’t use it much.

Yesterday DS and I were weeding and he whispered “[Unpleasant neighbor] approaching at 10 o’clock, Mom!” So I guess he picked up military clock bearing from somewhere (video game? summer camp?)

When the instructor told me that in driver's Ed many decades ago, I didn't know what he was taking about either.
I had never used the clock face to indicate position.