Children can have a very hard time understanding time as regards our history. Actually, it seems like most children look at time probably very much as God does...it's neither here nor there.

To help our younger and middle children get a better grasp on how history fits into time, I have made up what I consider a more realistic timeline, something that at least my limited brain can grasp hold of a little easier.

Try drawing this out on a piece of paper before you put it on a wall somewhere. See if it fits your way of thinking so that you can show your children how it works. 

Buy some plastic tape that will stick to the wall easily and peel off easily. Different colors would be best.

Think of year 0 as the beginning. Cut 20 pieces of tape 20 or 40 (or 60...whatever is best for your wall) long.

Set the lines up next to each other with some space in between. Think of them as birthday candles. Year 0 will be at the bottom of the line of tape on your right.

If you cut the tape into 20 inch pieces, each 10 years is about 2 inches long. Use a permanent marker to make little lines every 2 inches. If you used a 40 inch piece, 10 years is 4 inches, with 60 inches of tape, 10 years is 6 inches, etc.

Make each 100 years a different color from the one before and after it. I only have 4 colors, so just alternate them.

Make little tags that go at the bottom and top of each piece of tape.

First piece will have 0 at the bottom and 99 at the top.

Second piece of tape will have 100 at the bottom, 199 at the top.

Keep tags to write pertinent info on and stick near the appropriate date with sticky tack. Do the same with pictures of important historical figures.

You'll find it's much easier to visualize time with these birthday candle type lines, as opposed to the long lines in a timeline book or the horizontal lines of most wall timelines. Keep the others as well, tho. Seeing time in many different ways can be helpful.

But to get a grasp on how time works and how history fits into time, these vertical timelines are much more helpful.