The Timed Tad

So, Grady's been trying to figure out time and clocks lately.  I'm not sure what the push has been, but it's been fun to see.  We've been trying to get him to sleep in until at least 7am.  He has a clock in his room and we tell him that he needs to stay in bed until 7am.  Most of the time he gets a quarter if he actually does it.

He'll have this whole routine every night when I say it...

Me: You have to stay sleeping until the first number on the clock says 7 or later

Grady: What if it says 10?

Me: That's fine, as long as the number is seven or bigger.

Grady: What if it says 5?

Me: No, that's too early.  It has to say at least seven.  If it says five, go back to sleep.

Grady: What if a different number is 7?

Me: That's fine too, as long as the first number is at least seven.

Today he grabbed his watch to wear on the way to the zoo.  It doesn't read the right time.  In fact, I think it currently flashes the set time numbers and maybe the date too.  He messes around with the buttons often enough that I don't worry about trying to set it for him.

So Peter says: Well, that watch doesn't say the right time.

Grady: That's ok.  It still says it's own time.

Then when we're at the zoo today, there was a big clock there.  I had picked Grady up for some reasons and when he saw the clock he pointed it out to me.  He says "look, there's a zoo clock for the animals to see what time it is".

He's starting to figure out how to read a clock.  He did a computer math skill program reading all of the "o'clocks" and for the most part he got them all right.  But his concept of what it means to actually have a time is a little off.  I think he understands all clocks to tell their own time and it's almost magical if they actually say the same thing...and they're all right because they just tell their own time.