Learn about Time for Daylight Saving Time

March 2, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Daylight Saving Time is coming for a lot of North America and Europe in March, so it’s a fine time to talk about time! If you’re wondering, Wikipedia has a post all about which countries (or parts of countries) observe DST and when, as well as a timeline of when different countries the formerly observed it abolished the practice.

Of course if you’re talking about time, you need a clock, so first you can make a paper plate clock with this tutorial from Mum in the Madhouse. (Aside: is it true some kids aren’t taught how to read an analog clock anymore? It seems so foundational to how we teach time I can’t imagine it’s true, but I’ve heard people on the Internet say so.)

While you’ve got the paper plates out you can make your own sundial with these instructions from Krokotak. So fun!

Happy Homeschool Nest has a bunch of great free printables to do with telling time, including sheets on how to tell time, parts of a clock, matching time on an analog and a digital clock and more. You can grab these printables by signing up for email updates on their site (scroll all the way down).

Play with time and learn how to read a clock and write the time with these clock playdough mats from This Reading Mama.

And if you want to read about time, what it is, how it’s different on Earth and other planets, how people have tracked time through history, what philosophers have thought about time and more, check out The Book of Time by Clive Gifford. This information-packed book also includes information on how different clocks work, the history of alarm clocks, how accurately measuring time allows GPS to work, and of course time zones and Daylight Saving Time.

It also covers geologic time, how we measure the age of very old things like trees and fossils, life spans of various creatures on earth, body clocks and what happens in your body through the day and through a lifetime, animals’ concepts of time, and how often certain natural occurrences happen.

There’s also some information about space time, if time travel is possible, paradoxes and the future of time. It’s a fun book for kids who are interested in time and to get them (and maybe you, too) thinking about time in different ways.

About the book: 96 pages, hardcover, published 2023 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $24.99.

Telling Time with Apple Clocks

Make an Easy Clock for Teaching Time

Teach Kids to Tell Time with Books

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Book Review: Las Mañanitas

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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