ABSTRACT
At a recent conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Education there were over 240 presentations about all manner of mathematical topics but not one of them mentioned time. Was it because it is such an easy subject there was nothing to say? Or was it because it is such an integral part of life that people have ceased to think about it as a mathematical issue? Whatever the reason, it is clear from my own experience and discussions with teachers that teaching young children to tell the time is far from easy. To our credit I have yet to meet an adult who cannot tell the time: it may be that I live a very sheltered life but I rather suspect that we in the teaching profession-and the demands of everyday life —are by and large successful in teaching time.
