Important skill or obsolete?

[Wendy31]

When I taught kindergarten, teaching how to tell time on a clock w/ hands was a part of the math curriculum.

We learned how to count by 5s & then how to tell time.

I had "telling time" learning centers, worksheets, & activity sheets, & I sent home "telling time" homework sheets. And telling time was on our textbook tests & on our yearly achievement tests.

My last year teaching was 2008-2009 (younger DS was born in 7/2009), & now we homeschool.

My 2 older kids can tell time on a traditional clock because they were taught in school as well; of course, they prefer digital clocks!

We have 3 traditional clocks in our house, but there's a digital clock on the DVD player, the oven, the microwave, in the cars, & on their phones & I-pods.

There are so many digital clocks everywhere, that you can tell they really have to stop & think for a minute when they look at a traditional clock - if it's not on the hour or 1/2 hour. It's just not as "second nature" as it for us because of how digital our world is becoming.

I plan on teaching younger DS how to tell time on a traditional clock.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Nope, not buying it. I don't believe for one second that only 6 kids out of 27 knew how to read a clock. This is taught in elementary school and is not something hard to catch on to.

I think your friend is pulling your leg.

My dh teaches 6th grade, and very few of his students can read an analog clock. It surprises me that 6 students could read a clock in her classroom.

 

[dawnhaze]

I never learned to read a clock in school, but I skipped most of K and 1st grades, so I'd imagine my school system did teach it since this was a long time ago... I did learn it at home since my parents had an antique Roman numeral clock in the family room.

I don't own an analog clock, but I do encounter them in the world much more often than I need to write (or read) cursive that isn't a signature.

 

[Mkrop]

I see your point, but at what point does it become your fault for using an archaic style of writing as opposed to their fault for not being able to read it? I wouldn't write something down in runes and expect others to understand it.

Who deems when it becomes archaic??? I think it is still quite relevant. I am glad my kids are learning it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Eh, times change. I don't find it "sad", it just "is what it is".

I did teach my youngest (now 17) how to read a clock though. She learned cursive in elementary, however she says that the teachers require printing for assignments now. It has been so long since she has done cursive that she just prints. She can read cursive but does struggle to make things out.

 

[mom2rtk]

I did teach my youngest (now 17) how to read a clock though. She learned cursive in elementary, however she says that the teachers require printing for assignments now.

Maybe the teachers never learned cursive.

 

[sonnyjane]

Who deems when it becomes archaic??? I think it is still quite relevant. I am glad my kids are learning it.

I don't know, that's why I was kind of hypothetically saying "at what point..."

If enough people stop teaching and learning it, at some point they become the majority and others can no longer expect them to conform to old practices.

 

[LongLiveDisney]

I believe it completely. I know lots of high school kids that truly do not know how to read a clock. It's sad.

 

[Feralpeg]

Nope, not buying it. I don't believe for one second that only 6 kids out of 27 knew how to read a clock. This is taught in elementary school and is not something hard to catch on to.

I think your friend is pulling your leg.

So is reading, but when I was teaching, I had kids in 9th and 10th grade who could barely read. This was not a school in a poor area. Sadly, a lot of skills we learned in school are not stressed today.

I think it is very sad that kids are not being taught to tell time. Of course, I think it is bad that they are not being taught to write in cursive as well. I seem to be alone in this.

 

[mrsklamc]

I see your point, but at what point does it become your fault for using an archaic style of writing as opposed to their fault for not being able to read it? I wouldn't write something down in runes and expect others to understand it.

I don't know what point we get there, but we aren't there yet. A college student at the very least has the responsibility to realize the board says something and go "Hey, maybe that is relevant to me."

 

[bedogged]

How about typing? I had to buy that Dragon software for my college student granddaughter so she could get her papers in on time. I guess that isn't taught in high schools any more? With all the keyboards we use, one would think it would be of prime importance?

 

[Southernmiss]

How about typing? I had to buy that Dragon software for my college student granddaughter so she could get her papers in on time. I guess that isn't taught in high schools any more? With all the keyboards we use, one would think it would be of prime importance?

Middle school kids get ICT around here--a computer technology class which would be the old typing class. Most kids know hunt and peck on the computer since now they start using them so young.

The ICT class teaches them basic computer software--word, power point, etc. That will be helpful in school.

 

[FlyingDumbo]

This does not surprise me. I train a lot of twenty somethings where I work. They can't function without their technology and cell phones must be locked up in a locker at work. A lot of them seem very confused by the regular clock.

 

[mom2rtk]

How about typing? I had to buy that Dragon software for my college student granddaughter so she could get her papers in on time. I guess that isn't taught in high schools any more? With all the keyboards we use, one would think it would be of prime importance?

My kids all fussed their way through keyboarding class in school. But I kept on them. I told them it would do as much as any other class preparing them for college. It used to be that only secretaries needed to know how to type. Now everyone does. And every moment you can save typing is a moment you can spend doing something....... anything else. Even if it is making 20K or so DIS posts.

My keyboard is old and has no letters left on the keys. It really does separate the typists from the "hunt and peck" crew around here!

 

[LindaG4458]

Another talent totally missing from us (and has been for a long time) is the ability to count back change without knowing the amount required. It avoids the need for subtraction and subsequent errors.

My first job was at an ice cream stand that had the old fashioned (even at that time) registers. Only the total amount of the sale was entered into the register. Rather than doing subtraction for returning change we were all taught to count it back. For instance, bill is $8.32. Customer gives you a $20 bill. By counting:
3 pennies to $8.35
1 nickel to $8.40
1 dime to $8.50
2 quarters to $9.00
1 $1 bill to $10.00
1 $10 bill to $20.00

The last time I did this everyone looked at me like I had two heads!

 

[DebbieB]

I was in Boston Market the other day and the lady in front of me had a total of $8.51. She gave the cashier (a teen girl) a $10 and then said, I have a penny. The cashier said, sorry I already put it in as $10, your change is $1.49. The lady said, here's a penny, so give me $1.50. The girl was totally confused. We just looked at each other and shook our heads.

 

[sonnyjane]

I was in Boston Market the other day and the lady in front of me had a total of $8.51. She gave the cashier (a teen girl) a $10 and then said, I have a penny. The cashier said, sorry I already put it in as $10, your change is $1.49. The lady said, here's a penny, so give me $1.50. The girl was totally confused. We just looked at each other and shook our heads.

Ha! I used to be a cashier so I know that trick well. I still do it at drive-thrus and I admit that about 50% of the time, the person is a bit confused.

 

[minniecarousel]

I just looked at all of the clocks in my house: they are all digital! I never realized that. I work at a high school and we have analog clocks in every classroom and office.

Cursive is definitely dying out. My sons are in their early 30's and they don't write in cursive. They also have distinctive, hard-to-copy signatures, which is a good thing.

 

[kacaju]

Lunch Lady at a middle school here...it is true, many kids do not know how to read a clock...I thought it was silly when the shop teacher told us that he quizzes all the kids in his class and most of them cannot read the clock on his wall. Then I asked my kids (17 years and 13) to read my roman numeral clock on our kitchen wall....OH BOY they had no clue and they then said they really cant read the clocks at school. I asked how come all these years they knew what time it was in the kitchen...they only read the stove and/or microwave clock

 

[ORMom2Four]

I believe it and actually read an article back during the summer about graduating seniors not knowing how to tie shoes, tell time, count money, write in cursive, etc because it's no longer taught in school. I've had to teach my own kids those skills and when I asked their teachers about it, it's usually a combination of no time and no need to teach it due to technology.

I'm 40 and remember being taught things like cursive, reading a clock, counting money, and even learned how to tie shoes, all by my elementary school teachers. We even learned how to brush our teeth in school, with mirrors and toothbrushes at every desk!

I have a 21 year old. She was not taught cursive at all. I taught her how to write cursive enough that she could make a genuine signature. They did a little bit of clock work in school, but once again, most of it was learned at home. None of my kids learned to tie shoes at school like I did, and right now I'm teaching my 8yo to do it.