We’re leaving in 5 minutes You must be ready in 15 minutes … Quick, your bus will leave in 10 minutes … Easy to say (and to repeat) for parents, but difficult to understand for children! Ah, the idea of time!

If there is an abstract concept for little ones (and some bigger ones), that’s it … And this is probably the main reason why parents are stressed and tired of repeating themselves.

Why is the idea of time so complicated?

First, analog clocks – you know those ones with turning hands? Those where, according to the hand, the number 1 can be 1 or 5 or 13. Students have already told me “But 1 is equal to 1 – see! It’s not equal to 5 or 13! You’re making a joke!!” And they aren’t wrong…

You’re tearing out your hair, right? For children, it’s particularly difficult to understand that the value of the indicated number changes according to the position of the hand.

Also, there is the perception of time. As already said by Fillette, “Sometimes there are long 5 minutes and sometimes there are 5 short minutes!” For children, the time that passes is also directly related to their patience, a quality that is, unfortunately, not yet acquired at a young age and that will take time to develop (according to my personal experience, sometimes up to 40 years…)

That is to say, that time is an idea that can’t be acquired overnight (By the way, are we finally tomorrow today?).

A Visual Solution – the Time Timer

How do we make this concept understood concretely to children? And how do we reduce the stress of frantic mornings? Several ways can be implemented, but in this article, I’ll introduce the tool that has helped me the most: the Time Timer.

The Time Timer can indeed be a solution to allow Fiston to be better with time, to develop more autonomy and especially to avoid parents repeating infinitely (admit it – that it’s tempting!).

It’s actually a silent timer that displays in red the time remaining before the end of an activity or before a departure. At a glance, Fillette sees how much time she has left and she can see that this time is decreasing. She can then organize herself to do everything before the red is gone. The passing of time, an abstract notion, can finally be visualized. If desired, a buzzer can be activated when the time is up.

This tool can be used with children whose favorite and infinitely repeated sentences are: “Am I done yet?” Or “When can I …?” If you are not familiar with this, consider yourself very lucky! By using this tool and explaining to Fiston that he will be able to get up from the table in 5 minutes, that is to say when all the red will be gone, the parent doesn’t need to answer anymore that there are 4 minutes left , 3 minutes, 2 minutes, etc. (It’s like that in all families, no?). The child sees for himself the time remaining and no longer needs to ask the same question 100x. Maybe even a challenge could be put in place like adding an extra minute to sit at tonight’s dinner?

Not a magical solution ... but almost!

As a teacher, I also have used a Time Timer in my situation. It allows my most anxious students to visualize the time remaining for an activity or an assessment. It allows more active or impulsive students to be oriented in time without having to ask questions.

In addition, it personally helped me several times when I taught, knowing that my learning situation should be structured and limited in time. By putting my Time Timer at the back of my class, I could better manage my time at a glance.

Let’s hear it – it’s not a magic tool that will automatically make Fillette autonomous and responsible every morning of the week. But if it’s possible to repeat less, I’ll admit that it suits me just fine…

Véronique Gauthier

Remedial Teacher│ Psychoeducator