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Quarter Hour
A quarter hour is 15 minutes. 'Quarter past' means 15 minutes after the hour, and 'quarter to' means 15 minutes before the next hour.
The clock face can be divided into four equal sections of 15 minutes each, called quarters. 'Quarter past 3' means 3:15 (the minute hand at 3), and 'quarter to 4' means 3:45 (the minute hand at 9). This concept connects clock reading to fractions, helping children understand that a quarter is one-fourth. I Can Tell Time introduces quarter hours after half-past, continuing the progressive build from simple to complex time-telling skills.