Time for Munchkin Math!

When it comes to learning to tell time, my 5-year-old has a little trouble. He prefers the digital clocks and calls out the numbers instead of the time ("It's 5, 4, 2, Mom!").

I've tried to explain how to tell time on a standard clock with hands, but Dawson gets frustrated and doesn't really understand the long and short of it.

Enter Munchkin Math by Wendy Miller. Her DVD about telling time gives important reasons for learning to tell time. For example, we need to know when to wake up, when to go to bed, when it's time to eat, when it's time to play, etc.

Wendy and her animated bird friends, Stan and Cuckoo learn to tell time by using unique rhymes, chants and hand gestures.

Cuckoo needs to learn how to tell time so that he can earn his own clock. First Cuckoo learns what seconds, minutes and hours are. By clapping rhythmically, Wendy teaches seconds and explains that 60 claps equals 60 seconds in one minute. Then with a clever rhyme she teaches there are 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day.

Children on the DVD ask questions to help learn more about how long a second, a minute and an hour is in length. It takes a minute to go down a slide, and a nap is about an hour long, and so forth.

Dawson was intrigued by this DVD because of the clever rhymes. Wendy also uses the classic nursery rhyme Hickory, Dickory, Dock as well:

Hickory, Dickory, Dock!
There are two hands on the clock.
The hour hand's short, the minute hand's is long.
Hickory, Dickory, Dock!

Wendy also uses rhymes to teach children where the numbers are around the clock, and uses her arms like the hour and minute hands as well. This is great for learning the actual number and how many minutes it represents when telling time, for example when it's 5:00 p.m., the long hand points to the 12 and the short hand points to the 5 and so on.

With a little practice, Dawson was learning to tell time on the standard clock! And Cuckoo earned his own clock, too!

We like Munchkin Math a lot. I was happy that the DVD is interactive so that parents and kids can participate together. For more information on Munchkin Math click the link.

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“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Munchkin Math and received a sample DVD to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”