Timelines

Timelines ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhen my kids were young, I made a timeline that went down the left side of our hallway, about a foot from the top of the wall, down into and around my sons’ bedroom. It then came back out their door and down the right side of the hallway. I wish I could find a picture of it. We had it up for many, many years. Unfortunately we did not utilize it as much as I wish we had.

I liked this method because it was easy to see how time had passed since creation. :) It got a bit tricky with some parts of the bible but it was good. It wasn’t about perfection for us, just a good visual.

Another method is to do it all on one wall or on a roll-up blind, to conserve even more space. I like the idea of the blind but it might get a bit difficult to roll back up with a lot of figures and events on it. And the figures would be curled too. Hmm, maybe that’s not such a good idea after all. ;)

Another method is to keep a timeline in a book. Over on Simply Charlotte Mason, they have a free downloadable timeline they call “A Book of Centuries.” In the description they give instructions on how it can be set up. Here is another free download, based on Charlotte Mason’s methods. (Once you arrive at the webpage, the link to the pdf is in the second sentence.) In her pdf, she gives a couple of examples of how to use the pages/make your book. I think my favorite book type timeline is one that is folded like an accordion , so that it can be expanded to see where the individual item falls in the span of history.

All too late, I purchased timeline figures on cd from Amy Pak, Homeschooling in the Woods. I wish I had purchased it earlier; it sure would have made it easier on me. ;) I used some inexpensive children’s picture Bibles for some of the biblical characters and events. I told my kids we were guessing at dates, when that was the case, because I didn’t ever want them to be confused about what is truth. (The Bible is truth and we can sometimes make mistakes about our interpretation.) She has a webpage with lots of timeline information that is definitely worth taking the time to read. She even gives a list of the dates/dating method that takes into effect the number of things you may want to include on your timeline and not use an extraordinary number of pages.

It’s important to do some research into the different kinds of timelines before you make either the financial investment or the time investment. So, I’m including a few links with either information on how to make a timeline and the various types of timelines or timeline figures or even some of both.

  • This first one I’m sharing was no longer an active page but I found it on the internet archive. You may have to copy and paste any link addresses on this page, directly into your browser, as it will probably be altered because this page is no longer active itself. It is a very good comprehensive resource for all things timeline. :)
  • This one has a lot of links and information about timelines.
  • This is a good article that I pulled from the archives that has an overview of how to make a timeline.
  • This one has a list of timeline resources, which is excellent!
  • Here is another good compilation of links and resources.
  • This one isn’t too big and is easy on the eyes. :)
  • This one is from The Homeschool Mom and has some good links. (The one that is a dead link is one I included above from the archives.)
  • This one has some timeline figures you can download.

Wow! That’s a lot of info but timelines are something that you will want to use for years and you don’t want to have to start over. ;)

Well, I hope I haven’t given you too much information, so that you are overwhelmed. I hope you can find a method that will work for you and your family.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

 

 

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