A.M. and P.M. explained, for kids and the grown-ups helping them

Ask a seven-year-old what happens at seven o'clock and you will get two answers: breakfast and bedtime. Both are right. A clock goes around twice a day, so every time happens twice — and a.m. and p.m. are how we say which one.

What the letters mean

• a.m. — ante meridiem, Latin for "before midday": from midnight until noon. Morning.
• p.m. — post meridiem, "after midday": from noon until midnight. Afternoon, evening and night.

For a child, that is enough: a.m. is the morning, p.m. is the rest of the day.

The tricky one: 12 o'clock

Noon is 12:00 p.m. and midnight is 12:00 a.m. It feels backwards to most people, because noon is the moment the a.m. ends. The trick: at 12 the clock starts a new half of the day, so it takes the new label.

Practice with real life

A.m. and p.m. are about what is happening, not about the clock. The clock face is the same at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. — the activity tells you which.

Lifehack: at dinner, play "a.m. or p.m.?" Name something — "brushing your teeth before school", "watching fireworks", "eating lunch" — and everyone shouts the answer.

Our A.M. or P.M.? sheets work the same way: each clock comes with what is happening — eating breakfast, soccer practice, going to bed — and a sun or a moon as a clue for the youngest. Circle a.m. or p.m.

Put it in a day

Once the labels make sense, put them in order. My Day is a whole school day in six clocks — wake up at 7:00 a.m. to bedtime at 8:30 p.m. — and children love that it is about them.

For the hands themselves, see how to teach telling time, one hand at a time.