How do you do timelines? That is a tough question. I know that it was one that i asked and asked. I have finally figured out that there are as many answers as there are people making timelines.
But the basic run down is this; there are two main versions: Wall and Notebook.
A wall timeline is large and in charge. It takes up wall space so that your children can see at a glance how time fits and how every thing fits in with every thing else. In general time lines are amazing tools. You can have a timeline stretch straight along the wall, and perhaps around the entire room. You can have one in layers down the entire wall, or you can have one chart that is pre-made that includes everything. There are many options and endless possibilities.
A notebook timeline does the same thing a wall time line does, but on a much smaller scale. there are various ways that you can achieve this tool. Just simple pages printed back and front. or you can do an acordian style layout where the pages fold into the notebook for safe keeping. But is readily available for pulling out and review.
I personally have a wall timeline chart up. It is huge though and takes up a good portion of our wall. It is pre-made and has the dates and time going around in a circle (it even has space to add in dates for the future. Shiver has been included as a "marker" to show where we are in history. We have not stopped there though. We also have created a timeline for our notebooks. They are simple pages with a line down the middle with points to adding in dates. There is also lines along the top and bottom for adding in personal opinions, notes and other odds and ends.
For labeling them there are many many options. you could just add in a name and date. you could add in name date and personal notes. you could draw a picture of the person or event. Or you can find clip art and print them. or you can purchase a pre-drawn supply. i am not an artist. I can fill in the blanks, and follow directions, but art is i am not. So what i have done is ordered " homeschool in the woods'" timeline packs. you can copy them to be about 70% of the original. They are perfect for a notebook timeline then. at full size they are perfect for a wall timeline. They not only have dates, names and picture, but they also have short blurbs about each person or event. This will help jog yours and your child's memory. I find that it is very easy to cut them out once a week, or all at once--which was my original plan--and put them in a small accordion style pocket holder. Kind of like a coupon book.
Here's a picture of one of ours (each dd has her own)
Then we have a double sided notebook/binder for their history books. On the left side is their timeline and on the right is their notebook. we also have a lapbook that we are doing. I don't have a picture just yet as we have not assembled them. . .For now we have them in just a simple 3 prong folder with a ziplock baggie that I have added to the inside cover with brads. then I have pages of card stock that we will be gluing the mini-books onto. Eventually the card stock will be moved over to our notebook, but while it is in the creation stage it's just easier to have them separate. if anyone is interested I'll see about adding in pictures.
Here is a few picture of their notebook, again each DD has their own.
The left side:
Timeline side
The notebook as a whole:
Notepad, accordian file, glue and pen
zippers shut!
The right side:
Notebooking side
The kids really like their notebooks. Everything is right there. And if we need to run out the door because DH needs to make it to an appointment or something, we can take it along with us. Everything is pretty much right there for them. Very handy.
So what are these notebooks? These are 2 Sided notebooks by "Case It" brand They acutally have 2 different 2 sided notebooks. One is the one above and the other is called "Flip It" I think. (please don't quote me on the name" but as it's name suggests, each side is on the opposite side of the binder and you have to flip it over to gain access. I liked the side by side as it wouldn't be so confusing. LOL, I get confused easily!!
Anyways, this is part of our history work for MFW CTG. Hope it helps someone!! Oh, I will upload the file for the timeline that i created. You have to watch the way it prints though as I goofed. I didn't realize that the pages would print down first not across. So I made the pages look like it was a 2 page layout going down the excell sheet! So to print, you need to highlight the left side of pages. then highlight the right side and print on the back of the pages. LOL, sorry!! It was too much work to figure it out to revamp it. Take care everyone and Have a great weekend!
Was impressed by the effort put into the notebooks in the pics. We also do the wall time line. Found it easier to keep it in their minds by staring at it. We used the long paper rolls for my preK's art easel and taped it to their bedroom wall as we had no other space. Luckily they think it is neat bedroom material.
what a great idea. I hadn't thought of their room for the wall one. LOL, think if i put it by their beds they would dream about it??? LOL. Obtain it by osmossis!! : )
It's just a little of this and a little of that. Basically our way of sharing what we're doing. We have been doing textbooks, and will be soon doing MFW (My Father's World)! We'll be bringing in a little of Charlotte Mason and Ruth Beechick. And a WHOLE LOT OF US!
Shiver is our School Mascot. He is an Emperor Penguin that keeps school from getting too serious. He is also where we get the name of our Home School=Shiver Academy.
T8ermomma is me! I'm a mom of 4 kids ages from 2-11! I'm also a Navy Wife of many years who has traveled the world following DH as he serves our Beloved Country-the Great US Of A!
We are an LDS Family doing our best to stay true to our beliefs, keep our family strong, and perhaps even learn more than just ABC's and 123's.
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Sep. 14, 2008 - Wow!