Our TimeLine

I've had some requests for a peek at the Time Line we've put up to supplement our unit studies. As we study people, events and important dates in history, we add a figure to the timeline we hung in the hallway. It is a great tool to put everyone and everything in history into perspective. It helps keep names and dates and places in our minds, helps with memorization. And I especially love the way it weaves all of history together -- Biblical, secular, scientific, historic, etc.


Here is a view from the beginning of the hallway, as you head to the bedrooms:



Here is a view from the opposite direction, looking back toward the living room:



We put the timeline strips on large fabric panels and hung the whole thing from hooks. The little ones are getting a visual idea of how time goes along chronologically, from creation of the world to present day. They have learned about A.D. and B.C. and what that means, and are beginning to understand that abstract concept of how the dates B.C. get larger instead of smaller. Trying to capture a photo in a 3foot hallway is not an easy task, but you can kind of see how it all makes a large triangle, with the beginning of time down on the lower left, following up then to the birth of Christ at the top center, and the moving forward to present day down at the right hand bottom corner.



To make it 'come alive' we add figures each week that coordinate with our studies. Above you can see some of the people we studied during our Early Settlers unit - Plimouth Plantation, Pilgrims, Indians, First Thanksgiving. OK, it isn't a great close-up (I know these old eyes of mine can't read the names!) but it gives you an idea! Each figure has their name and date printed on it.

We bought this set almost 20 years ago to go along with our core curriculum, KONOS, which is unit study based on character qualities. They made some changes and additions through the years, but basically it is the same program we've used all these years. We love it, highly recommend it. Anyone curious can find out more at the Konos website.