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LEVEL 1 - Have available, if possible, both an analog (regular clock with a face and hands) and a digital clock. Change the times on the clock and ask the student to tell you the time. Work only, at this stage, with 15-minute increments of time, (such as 8:00, 8:15, 8:30 and 8:45, etc). Ask what time it will be in 15 minutes or 30 minutes, keeping the time changes simple, at this point. Also periodically ask the student what time they think it is. Ask how much time has passed after doing another kind of activity, such as mathematics work. Let the student know how close to being accurate he or she is and ask again later on. (For example, “How long ago did I come into your room?”).

LEVEL 2 - Once the student is successful with this, you can ask questions about less obvious time changes, such as “What time will it be in 23 minutes?” Draw several “clocks” on a piece of paper that are missing the hands on the face. Write below each analog clock example, a digital time, for instance, 4:15. Ask the person to draw the hands on the clock above so that it reads, 4:15. Repeat with several different examples or trials. Reverse the task by giving the person examples of clock WITH the hands indicating different times. Have them write out the digital representation of those times.

LEVEL 3 - Use the clock in combination with the review of daily schedules. Obtain workbooks from discount department stores or teacher supply retail stores that provide word problems based on time calculations. (Look for workbooks graded for 5th, 6th, 7th grades). You can also generate these types of questions on your own, without having to buy workbooks. Questions like: “The guests will arrive at 6:30. The roast takes 2 hours and 20 minutes to cook. What time should you put the roast in if you want to eat as soon as the guests arrive?”

LEVEL 4 - Present time questions that involve changing of time zones. For instance, if someone leaves Texas at 10:00 am (Central Time) and travels for two hours to reach Georgia (Eastern Time), what would be the arrival time in Georgia (correct answer: 1:00 pm). These questions can become quite complex, such as involving travel to different continents. A map of time zones in the U.S. can be found in the front pages of the phone book. A world atlas, which can found at the public library, will provide world-wide time zones.

LEVEL 5 - Creating meals with recipes and meal plans can challenge time orientation and calculation as well as judgment. The person must be able to read and calculate time passage as well as be able to estimate how to coordinate cooking times for various dishes