Practical Tip Book of Centuries for mom and kids

Here’s this week’s practical tip ~

A Charlotte Mason education includes a Book of Centuries.  Following Ms Mason’s approach, children enter records, illustrate and write brief notes and mark dates of famous people, events, wars, eras, inventions and significant breakthroughs in their Book of Centuries as they study. 

For a young child, a visual timeline  chart or line along a wall or around a room is best.  It gives a child a bird’s-eye view of events in time; with Biblical and ancient history starting way back, with modern and current dates stretching out.  My young kids loved pasting the pictures on our timeline that went all around our room!  Finding the right date and placing for the picture on the timeline was an excellent introduction activity to a lesson or theme.

Middlesdchoolers enjoy their own book or notebook version.    Older children enjoy adding their own notes and illustrations or clip art.  Allow your children freedom to express their thoughts and details in their own, personal way.  Some kids prefer pasting clip art and drawing pictures, while others like to write lists.  I often provided a detailed timeline for specific themes, like World War ll, for example, which can be folded and pasted onto the relevant BOC page.  Over the years, their books fill up and become a wonderful reflection of the history they have studied.  This activity is an excellent conclusion to a theme or topic.

I wrote a post on how you can make you own very cheap, frugal Book Of Centuries using a store-bought notebook, or convert a spiral bound book into a BOC. This post includes the spacing and page layout suggestions.

I wrote about my joy of using a Book of Century as a mother’s record of work and I still love browsing through my BOC and delight in the scope and richness of the education we have journeyed through these 19+ years.  (In response to @Leanne’s comment about not having kept her own records in her BOC, I wrote, “@Leanne, If this is an idea you enjoy, just go ahead and do it! I “caught up” my BOC in one afternoon a few years ago! I simply took each History Core book we had studied and wrote in all the events, wars and famous people studied. The next day I took my Art Era Timelime and cut it up and pasted all the thumbnail-sized pictures in the main art eras, included all the famous art works and artists, and my BOC was instantly filled with color and info! In fact, if this is something your kids have let slide, it makes a good recap and overview activity which they might also enjoy!)

Here are some links and free Book Of Centuries downloads:

• Practical Pages’ latest free download ~ Book of Centuries by Nadene (Please be patient, this is a large download – 142 pages)
• I added thumbnail prints of famous artists and masterpieces to my BoC from my Art Era Timeline.
• Make your own Book of Centuries using Simply Charlotte Mason.com free download
• How to use your Book of Centuries on Simply Charlotte Mason.com
• Practical Pages’ History Timeline – Our Wall Chart at the end of the Year
• Practical Pages’ Frugal Timeline Book – a simple and cheap Book of Centuries made using an exercise book.
• Heart of the Matter.com How to Make a Timeline Easily with excellent details and instructions.
• Microsoft Office has teacher’s template and excellent screen clips to Creating a Timeline in Microsoft
• Donna Young.org has fabulous free Timeline Instructions and Timeline Forms
• Higher Up and Further In writes How and When to Begin a Book of Centuries

Wishing you every blessing, Nadene

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New Music and Art Timeline

I created a new Music and Art Timeline.   This is a helpful Fine Arts tool, identifying both famous musicians and their music styles, as well as famous artists and their masterpieces displayed in parallel.

How to use the timeline:

• Print out and bind as is, or add to a Book of Centuries.
• Cut and paste the pages side-by-side/ under each other as a visual Fine Arts timeline.
• Add art work thumbnails to a timeline on a wall.
• Cut the art works and paste them on cards and let children match the artists to the eras.

You will find your free download on my Free Page ~ Art Era Timeline, fresh and newly updated!

Recently Homeschool Freebies of the Day featured my Art Era Timelines to email subscribers.  Subscribers often get links to special freebies that you will not find openly on Internet, so it is worth joining their subscription list!

Blessings,

 

 

Mom’s Book of Centuries Record of Work

One of Charlotte Mason’s principles is the Book of Centuries.  She encourages each child to add important information to their Book of Centuries (BoC) as they learn.

This year I decided to start my own Book of Centuries and as I noted in important dates and details as we learnt, I thought, “This will make an excellent record of work!”

What should go into a Book of Centuries?

• Names and birth/ death dates of famous and important people
• Explorations, discoveries, inventions, technology advancements
• Wars, conflicts and political events
• Religious and philosophical changes
• Art and music eras, as well as famous artists’ masterpieces
  

  We paste our famous artists at their date of death. Paste specific masterpieces or inventions on their dates. Simple key words to summarize.

As we cover a theme or topic, an era or event, learn about a famous artist or musical composer, we spend a few minutes and jot it into our Book of Centuries.  Sometimes this activity is a great introduction and provides a neat “bird’s-eye view” of the era we are going to study.  Other times, it provides a good conclusion/ review of our study.

Book of Centuries templates include:

• Double-page layout with 5 horizontal rows  ~
  • Wars, Conflicts & Politics
  • Notable men & women
  • Discoveries, Inventions & Technology
  • Religion & Philosophy
  • Art & Music
  • each page has light vertical lines for the years
• Eras – broken into 8 sections ~
  • Flood to 3000BC (Grey)
  • Ancient Civilizations 3000BC to 500BC (Green)
  • Classical World 500BC to 500AD (Turquoise)
  • Middle Ages 500AD to 1450AD  (Purple)
  • Renaissance & Reformation 1450AD to 1610AD (Orange)
  • Exploration & Colonization 1610AD to 1750AD  (Blue)
  • Industrial Revolution 1750AD to 1914AD  (Red)
  • The World Today 1900AD to 2050AD  (Grey)
• Eras are broken into 100-years, 50-years, 20-years and 10-year pages ~
  • Creation until 3000 BC only one two-page spread is
    needed.
  • From 3000BC to AD 1500 allow a 100 years per two-page spread.
  • From AD 1500 to AD 1800 allow a fifty-year span per two-page spread.
  • From AD 1800 to AD 1900 allow a twenty-year span per two-page spread.
  • From AD 1900 to the present allow a ten-year span per two-page spread
    (If you don’t do this, you will have large empty sections during the early
    years, while the later years will be crammed with too many entries.)
    

    Paste in detailed notes or extra timeline events

How I made my Book of Centuries:

• Print all the pages on normal print paper. (You could print it on cardstock, and print back-to back.)
• Punch the correct side of the pages,  The pages face each other, all the even pages on the right side, all the odd pages on the left side.
• File the pages and glue the backs of the pages to each other.
• Index the centuries with stickers or tabs.
• Number the years across the top line under the headings. (Some pages are divided into 10 years per column, the modern years have 2 years per column.)

Here are some links and free BOC downloads:

• Practical Pages’ latest free download ~ Book of Centuries by Nadene (Please be patient, this is a large download – 142 pages)
• I added thumbnail prints of famous artists and masterpieces to my BoC from my Art Era Timeline.
• Make your own Book of Centuries using Simply Charlotte Mason.com free download
• How to use your Book of Centuries on Simply Charlotte Mason.com
• Practical Pages’ History Timeline – Our Wall Chart at the end of the Year
• Practical Pages’ Frugal Timeline Book – a simple and cheap Book of Centuries made using an exercise book.
• Heart of the Matter.com How to Make a Timeline Easily with excellent details and instructions.
• Microsoft Office has teacher’s template and excellent screen clips to Creating a Timeline in Microsoft
• Donna Young.org has fabulous free Timeline Instructions and Timeline Forms
• Higher Up and Further In writes How and When to Begin a Book of Centuries

l smile as I browse through my Book of Centuries and I fondly remember our homeschool journey over the past year.  I could also use different coloured pens for each child’s studies or different curricula that I may use over the years … we’ll see.  Go on moms, make your own BoC!

Blessings,

Famous Artists 2013 Timeline

We use both our Book of Centuries (BOC) and our Wall Timeline.

Every year I seem to change and refine our timeline work and their applications.  As the children grow up they develop a more detailed sense of where things “fit”on the timeline or in their BOC.

As the children entered middle school, they each started their own BOC.

Much to my disappointment, they didn’t really refer to it much unless I scheduled it.  Their entries were also not as detailed or as personalized as I would have liked.

But, I press on in 2013, and made this ~ all our Famous Artists we’ll study this year printed out on a simple timeline ~ (click the title below for your free download)

Famous Artist Timeline for 2013

With a quick snip-snip, my kids can cut out and paste the Famous Artist in their BOC. I’ll encourage them to write their biography notes with each artist and musician.

Which artists are we studying this year?

Rembrandt van Rijn, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Caravaggio, Joseph Farquaharson, John James Audubon, Jules Breton, Albert Bierstadt, Elizabeth Gardener Bouguereau, William Bouguereau

Here’s a sample of my year plan:

How did I plan this?

The simplest and most inspiring Charlotte Mason weekly inspiration came from All Things Bright and Beautiful. Patti creates a weekly post with a famous artist, some observations and suggestions for the art work, and she inserts a Classical Musician link and quotes a famous poet.  True to Charlotte Mason, she focuses on the same artist, musician and poet for the whole month.  If you are unsure of how to start your CM Fine Arts, just subscribe to her blog and it is all done for you!

Tip: Right-click on any famous public domain artwork and “save image as” to save the image to your computer. Use as a screen saver or wallpaper for the week you are studying the artwork.  Or print out postcard size for your “gallery” and your child’s picture study.

I also add artists or art works that I have in my art book collection.  I believe I must be faithful to use what I have at hand.  I’ll add library books to the collection as we go along. Basically I look for 3 to 4 good-sized prints for each artist. That will give us one picture each week for that artist for a month.

Typically I also look for a picture that will lead to an interesting art appreciation lesson.  We do not “do art” each time, but the picture should evoke a feeling, a thought or stimulate a story, or should be able to be narrated in detailed.

Ambleside Online have a great list of Fine Art subjects for each year.

Read how these amazing homeschool moms plan their art study:

Jimmie’s post – How to Plan Artist Study for a Semester at Jimmie’s Collage and

Barb explains how she does her Planning Art Appreciation for Homeschool or co-op at Harmony Fine Art.

Also, you can pop over to my Art Era Timeline and Famous Artists pages for more inspiration and free downloads.

So, join in.  How do you do your art study?  Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.

Blessings,

This post was submitted for the Carnival of Homeschooling.

Oops? Mistakes?

Plans can go wrong!

Ever had an “Oops!” in homeschooling?

I recently saw an accordion-fold timeline at Get in the Fold (a really clever, neat idea here), but she discovered her “Beautiful Oops” when the timeline space was not big enough for the project.  She turned the miscalculation into a wonderful student-led challenge to make their own foldables so that their presentation would fit in the folder.

Rebecca and Donna’s post led me to Margaret Berry Wilson‘s Fruitful Mistakes at Responsive Classroom.

I loved her suggestions for “bouncing back from mistakes” and helping children develop confidence and problem-solving skills in their “Oops” moments:

• Respond carefully when students make mistakes.
• Share children’s books celebrating mistakes –Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg and for older students,  Accidents May Happen by Charlotte Jones.
• Do more open-ended projects and ask more open-ended questions. 
• Share your mistakes and the lessons learned from them.
• Encourage children to share and reflect on mistakes. 

So, when plans go a “pear-shaped” (yes, fruity-pun!)

breathe,

let go of perfection,

resist self-condemnation,

and trust the Lord to lead you and your children

to discover unexpected fruitful  solutions.

Blessings,

Taking Time to do Timelines

Nothing beats a wall chart, timeline  or Book of Centuries to get a wonderful overview of  history.

Our timeline is full and crowded at the end of each year –

clusters of events, inventions, major changes and important people …

The kids’ frugal timeline book/ Book of Centuries look interesting …

After using timelines and Book of Centuries for over 14 years of homeschooling,

I learnt that ~

• children seldom remember exact dates
• timelines show relationships and links to people and events
• my kids often link events to an existing event clearly dated in their heads – “Oh, that was just before the Civil War…”
• they link time to eras and fashions – “Oh, that was during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign …”
• historical movies and DVDs are an excellent tool in relating to eras and events – “Yes, like in Pearl Harbor/ Little Women …”
• my kids don’t think in timelines – but I do!
• timelines are a learning style – not everyone learns in a linear overview
• I love an “overview” – a bird’s-eye view of history
• my kids love detail – focus on here and now
• timeline activities are great for introductions and conclusions to themes
• timelines lack detail, but can offer good prompts
• timelines are great tools to discuss, compare, link causes and effects, show consequences
• we need to schedule time each week to fill in details on our wall chart/ timeline/ BOC
• my kids generally just “get the job done” – no real joy here
• the kids love to look back over what they have done and see what they’ve covered

Having said all this, I believe in timelines and personal Books of Centuries.

We will continue to jot down details each week, summarize themes and list important people and events on our timelines.

How have your children enjoyed/ participated in or applied their timelines ?

Blessings,

Calendar & Map of Major Events in 2011

Do you discuss current events with your children?

As we draw to the close of 2011,

I wanted to capture the defining moments of the year

on a calendar and a world map.

So much happened this year  ~

• earthquakes
• tsunami – devastated much of Japan
• nuclear disaster – caused by Japan’s tsunami
• volcanoes erupted
• volcanic ash clouds – stopped air travel
• hurricanes
• tornadoes
• major political events – dictators killed, governments overthrown, revolutions
• important economic events – e.g.: Financial recession & Euro fears
• Significant social events – e.g.: Prince William & Katherine’s wedding, celebrity deaths

I prepared this activity for an end-of-year overview for my middle-school and high school children.

I think I will prepare these pages for next year and we could fill in events on a world map as the year progresses when we discuss current events.

You could keep record of natural disasters and extreme weather on a separate map.  As these disasters happen, your child could do a unity study or a research project on them.

Older children can follow important political changes, and note major economical and social events.

Here’s my free download ~

Natural Disasters Major Events 2011

Included in this download are ~

1. World map with events entered with symbols (grace please for any errors or omissions 😉 )
2. Calendar with colour-coded details in each month 
3. A blank calendar page
4. Blank world map
5. References and internet links  (Disclaimer:   I found information on major events and dates from most my information from Wikipedia and other sites, but I do NOT endorse or necessarily agree with any view points or comments from any of these sites.)

The world is in times of extreme change.

We need to be watchful and pray.

Blessings,

World War II Notebook Pages, Maps, Timelines & Online Resources

World War II

As with our WWI studies, I wanted to present a brief overview to World War II events, rather than to do a detailed study.  I felt that if any topic raised someone’s particular interest, we would delve into it a little deeper.

Most my children’s existing knowledge of World War II has come through movies.  As a family, we had watched a few WWII classic movies, such as the BBC’s  The Battle of Britain and The Great Escape and the modern release of Pearl Harbor.

I find that holocaust movies can be deeply disturbing.  We selectively guide our children’s viewing of these films.  We watched The Diary of Anne Frank  and The Boy with Striped Pyjamas.

For our History studies, I wanted to create a type of “skeleton” or framework on which they can attach all their existing and new knowledge.

Timeline activities and map work seemed the best method to use.

I spent several hours researching for online resources and there is a stack out there!

I use OneNote for all my web research and notebook preparation.  I simply copy and paste anything I find on the internet on One New Side Note.

What is wonderful about this Microsoft tool (part of the Office package) is that ~

1. it saves everything for you automatically

2.it automatically places the url hyperlink under the clip when you copy and paste a picture, quote, table or whatever.  I use these hyperlinks to go back to the original website or use these references to complete my lapbook organizer or bibliography with one click!

3. you can easily organize your notebooks, filing and creating sections, tabs and new notebooks as you go, or afterwards

Recommended Websites on World War Two:

For the best overviews:

History Animated

A brilliant website with animated maps, timelines and original audio recording, radio broadcasts and famous speeches.  Highly recommended!  Go here to view WWII in Europe and Africa with an outstanding animation of the Battle of Britian.  They also cover the entire WWII Pacific wars and include animated maps with audio of the Japanese Onslaught, America Fights Back and battles on various islands in the Pacific.

History on the Net

They have an excellent site with photos, timelines and free printable notes.  They also include some online word searches and quizzes.

CyberLearning-World.com

Work online on the excellent interactive map of WWII with more notes on the side.  (Excellent visual presentation)

History Of War Online

Here are stacks of links to maps, photos, documents, stories and even recordings of the war.

(I love audio recordings – great for auditory learners and learning with busy hands!)

BBC – History: World War II

With expandable index and excellent notes.

Timelines:

• Timeline – World War Two
• The History Place – World War II in Europe Timeline

Maps:

• Interactive Map of World War II: The European Theater
• World War 2- maps photos images pictures
• Interactive Map of Europe, Europe Map with Countries and Seas (great for orientation)
• BBC – History – World Wars: Animated Map: The North African Campaign (a fantastic quick overview)

World Leaders & Famous Speeches:

• BBC – History – World Wars: Audio: Churchill and World War Two (3 famous Churchill speeches)

Audio recordings of soldiers, civilians and survivors:

• The Day after Pearl Harbor: Radio Documentary by Sound Portraits

Main battles and events:

• TeachersFirst’s Pearl Harbor and World War II Resources
• World War Two – Picture Gallery Storyboard
• The Battle of the Bulge Remembered : NPR
• WWII Clip Art
• World War 2 Tales « Chester The Crab’s Blog (comic page summary – great for visual learners)

Pearl Harbor: An excellent animated map of the attack at Pearl Harbor with audio and full click details on the images on the map. Pop back to my New Pearl Harbor Lapbook post

Free WWII Notebook Pages:

(Click the title for your free download)

• World War 2 Notebook Pages

These come in 3 different layouts.  We combine our minibooks and notebook pages.

• World War Two Timeline

I created a concertina-folded timeline to paste into our Book of Centuries.  This way the war “unfolds” 🙂 for the child  and gives them a bird’s-eye view.  This 9 page download comes with detailed timeline notes that the child can use to write their own time line events.

• WW2 Maps and Minibooks

Children colour in the different countries according to whether they are Axis, Allies, Neutral and Occupied Territories on a world map.  Coloured map of Europe during the war is also included.

Enjoy!

Blessings,

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,

 

How do I use the Art Era Timeline?

Here are some tips and practical ideas on how to use your downloaded Art Era Timelines.

Bind the downloads as an Art Book of the Centuries ~

Image via Wikipedia

I bound my printout and made a simple spiral bound book and we use it to reference our artist or art movement.

The book format works well if you  flip through the pages to find artist.  Your children may recognise the thumbnail of the work studied.  They will also notice other works of the same art style.

Your children may need to transfer the dates to a more formal timeline for clarity.

We use a Wall Chart ~

This is a wonderful method because the children can see in one glance, where and when events and eras took place in relation to other events in History.

Timeline Wall Chart

I made this chart myself on the back of our Large World Map.  I divided the vertical space into the centuries from 5000 BC to 2000 AD and divided the lines across in decades.

My timeline zigzags to form a flowing timeline.

I coloured some of the timeline eras in different colours; the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution etc.

Also, because I covered the wall chart in packaging tape to protect it, we write details on our wall chart with coloured white board markers.

This is how we use our Art Era Timeline on the Wall Chart:

• We write the artist’s name and birthdate and stick the picture of the artist or the thumbnail of his most famous works on the timeline.
• We use a different colour for different art eras and mark off all the years that the art movement occurred.
• We only update the timeline once a week, or even less.  I find it helpful for an introduction to an artist.
• The kids look for the year and write the name of the artist above his biographic dates.
• It is also a good way of concluding a study.  When we have finished studying an artist, we update the timeline and see how his works fit into an era.

As you can see, the chart does get crowded.  This is the only disadvantage of a smaller scale wall chart.

Here you can see the timeline figures I use ~

Timeline Figures

These came with my first kindergarten Sonlight purchase. They did not come with all the artists we have studied. We make/ draw/ download pictures of famous artists for the timeline.

I coloured the edges of my figures to help distinguish between the different history cores I was using.

You could use this system to highlight Art figures ( highlighted in 1 colour) different from Notable People (edged in another colour), History (edged in another colour),  from Inventions (a 3rd colour) or Wars (a 4th colour).

At the end of our year we play games and use our timeline figures for  review:

• group the figures according to categories (discoverers, artists, Bible characters)
• quiz – give 2 facts for each figure
• arrange 3/5 figures in time order

Here is our Book of Centuries Timeline ~

Book Of Centuries Time time

We used this timeline method while we were travelling and I could not display our timeline chart in our school room.

Each child pastes in their pictures or information and uses the blank page to write more information.

It is a very personal timeline.  Each child adds to their Book of Centuries and it becomes a rich historical resource.

An adolescent needs to start a new Book of Centuries as they sometimes become critical of earlier entries.  They need a blank book to map and record their more mature insights and intellectual understanding.

There are some excellent Book of Centuries with sections devoted to different themes on each page.

This is more appropriate for older students.  Young children sometimes cannot “see” the full picture and how their details fit into the larger scheme of time.

In the same way as explained above, add the names, biographies, thumbnails, pictures and information of the artists or art movements on the relevant pages.  This method offers much more space and so your children can fill more information on the page than on the wall chart.

And lastly, you could make a continuous Timeline Strip ~

I don’t have my first strip timeline photographed, but I used a looooooong strip of sturdy paper, divided into all the centuries and pasted this all around the room at the top of our school room wall.

This was a fantastic method!  The children could see exactly where and when historical events occurred.

It was easy to refer to Biblical eras and see how long ago these events took place.  Also,there were several eras when lots of new events, inventions and changes took place in very short space of time.  This was easy to see during the Renaissance or in the late 18th Century. This cluster could be expanded by making the timeline strip wider to accommodate all the figures and information.

One disadvantage is that the children can’t write or paste items on the wall strip because it is a struggle to climb up to reach the timeline.

You can read more here about our history timeline.

Simply Charlotte Mason have a Book of Centuries pictured and described here and a free pdf download here.

Heart of the Matter offers simple directions on how to make a time line here.

Heather made a free Book of Centuries template download.  (You need to write your own years in on the top of the pages.)

And, of course, please visit my Free Pages to make sure you have downloaded all the free stuff! 🙂