YOUNG PEOPLE NO LONGER READ THE ANALOG CLOCK, IS IT POSSIBLE?

Nowadays, digital time is displayed everywhere and any time. Learning the time on an analog dial is on the school curriculum in most countries. In Switzerland, this is the case for primary classes 4-5H (7-9 years of age). So why is decoding it on a church tower so difficult for our teenagers? Theconsolidation of this learningdepends strongly on the willingness of the people around them to encourage them to continuously practice reading the time by the analog hands. Because due to lack of practice, a majority of young people can no longer read the analog clockand simply avoid doing it.

Notions such as “a quarter to” or “twenty past” become abstract. Then as teenager in school, you have to learn telling time even in German and English…

You do not believe it? Find out by yourself!

Ask a few young people aged 12 to 25 around you, or in the street, to read the time on a church clock or on your watch (with an analog dial without numbers). Even if your own child has received a nice watch for his or her 18 or 20th birthday, it is very likely that it serves as a fashion accessory, but that he or she reads the time preferably on… a mobile phone.

Are you able or not able? That is the question !…

AT OUR LEVEL AS PARENTS?

There are still many analog clocks in train stations, on church towers and in the majority of homes. But if at the same time it is possible to read the time on digital dials, the child quickly chooses this easy route and the parents are not even aware of it. So, it all started when we realized that our own children were experiencing this difficulty.

Will the analog dial simply disappear, like the sundial has become obsolete? Here are our thoughts:

As demonstrated by the Montessori methodology, we believe that visual tools such as the analogue dial are important in the understanding and acquisition of abstract notions. The analog dial allows you to visualize the notion of time in space, and opens you up to the understanding of other abstract notions (fractions, booklets). We have therefore developed the TEAN app for all people who wish to consolidate this learning in the long term, or practice it in other languages.

The TEAN App, on android phone or iPhone/iPad, to practice learning the time:

For children learning to tell the time: a dial with the 24 hours. Tean features a “training” mode and a “quiz” mode.

11 progressive dials to choose from to train time reading on increasingly simplified dials; 13 languages available to practice reading the expression of time in several languages.