Frugal Timeline Book

We regularly use our Timeline Chart.

About once every 2 weeks we stick the relevant pictures on our chart.

A wall chart  timeline is a great tool to give children a “Bird’s eye” overview.

It is wonderful tool for younger children.

A timeline chart covers a huge period of time in a fairly small space.

It can get crowded!

(We have even added an extra piece to the side of our chart one year.)

In the past, I used a timeline that ran around the walls of our school room.  The children used to beg to climb up on the high chair to stick on the clipart, and it never was an issue that it was high up above the bookshelves.

When we did our South African History curriculum, we used our first Book of Centuries.

Because we studying a shorter period of the timeline, it was a wonderful tool for each child to use.

They recorded information, dates, names, titles of books we read, pictures and maps.

It became a very personal book.

Younger children cannot  ‘see the time’ in a book as well as they can on a wall chart or a timeline that runs around a room.

As our studies for next year is American History, it is also a short period of history, and I thought we should use timeline books combined with out Timeline Chart.

I found several templates and instructions on the internet, but I wanted to use the nature study books I had on hand. Frugal inspiration.

With a few calculations, some dates written in calligraphy, and index cut out along the side, I created 2 Timeline Books in an afternoon.  Quick and cheap!

I hope that my middle school child will fill it with plenty of details, pictures, illustrations and information.

I trust that my younger junior school child will keep track of events with brief notes she may copy.

We will still use our Sonlight timeline pictures.

I have highlighted them in green.

(I labelled all our American History books  in green with our Sonlight purchase.)

I clipped them together in their respective centuries, ready in a Ziplock bag near our chart.

Using the wall chart as well as their timeline books, the children will see the events, famous people, inventions and significant moments  in time and in perspective, and in write about them in more detail.

Some tips:

1. Some children are global thinkers and need to see the full picture.  They enjoy placing some key events on their timelines before they study the theme.
2. Let young children write their names (and important family member’s names) on their birth dates on the timeline.
3. Encourage your children to note important/ significant historical events they already know on the chart or timeline.  (Christ’s birth/Christ’s death, and modern events like Sept 11th)
4. Use a highlighter to colour historical ages or eras. (e.g.: the Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Industrial Revolution)
5. Practice counting in 5’s, 10’s and 100’s. Count in decades and centuries.
6. Explain vocabulary like century and decades, BC and AD.

I have made a summary of the Book of Centuries and Timeline instructions you can download here ~ How to make Book of Centuries.

I trust this will help you to make your own timeline wall chart or timeline books!

This post was featured on Carnival of Homeschooling: 42 Edition at Home Spun Juggling.  Click here if you wish to submit an article to the next carnival.

Blessings,