Telling Time

Last week, Benjamin had a request for John: "Dad, can you please teach me to tell time?" A fervent plea by your child to expand his mathematical horizons- this is music to a homeschooling father's ears! So John spent the next hour thoroughly explaining all the mysteries of Telling Time. And he was successful. Now no one can pull anything over on Ben! When asked, "Is it lunchtime?" an older sibling might reply, "No, not yet!" because they don't want to stop and make sandwiches. But our Benjamin Time Teller quickly looks at the clock and announces, "It is so! It's after twelve o'clock!" So lunchtime it is. When told that it's bedtime, he complains, "But it's only eight twenty!" The real reason for the desire to tell time soon became apparent, however. About a half hour after the time-telling lesson was over, Ben came to his father and announced, "Dad, it's time for American Idol!"