How To Use Timelines In Your Homeschool

This week our timeline jumped from one wall to the next in its ongoing march around our dining room. It’s nice to have it back after a couple of years. Nothing screams to guests, “We’re a weird homeschooling family!” like a prominent timeline. Since timelines are a long standing tradition in our house, I thought I would share my thoughts on how to use timelines in your homeschool, for anyone wondering if there’s actually a benefit to taping historic figures to your walls (or in a book). Affiliate links below.

As a reminder, we study world history in four year cycles. This year, we’re studying the early modern period (from about the Renaissance to the founding of America). I try to have a few of the kids’ literature selections, as well as some of our artists and composers come from those time periods when possible. History is central to our homeschool, but it doesn’t need to be for you to use a visual timeline with your children. I’ve always used a wall mounted timeline that we create as we go, but there’s other timeline options out there. (You can learn about all our history curriculum choices HERE.)

What is the benefit to using a timeline?

First, why is this even worth the effort? I forget where I first heard about the idea of a timeline, but it immediately appealed to the visual learner in me. Placing historic figures and events in a line on the wall helps my kids and I see what was happening simultaneously around the world at various moments in history. So often history is presented as all these stand alone dates or important events. You forget that while St. Joan of Arc burned at the stake in May 1431, the Incan Empire had yet to come into being, China was sending expeditions to India and East Africa, and Vlad the Impaler was about to be born. When history books are written, they try to write a continuous story, but the result is things that happened decades or centuries apart in one country are lumped together, with concurrent events that happened elsewhere listed in an earlier or later chapter, sometimes giving the impression these things happened at a completely different time. A timeline helps show when everything actually happened in a straight forward way. And as you approach modern times, it’s fun to add dates of family members and special events to give the timeline a personal touch; your kids can see we’re all a part of history!

A Wall Timeline

If you don’t have a bare wall, you can skip this section (don’t worry, there’s other options for you!) I like hanging my timeline in a prominent space where everyone can see it. In our first house, we actually hung it along a wall next to our stairwell on the second floor. Then later on, after a few renovations, it moved to our dining room wall. I simply run a piece of masking tape along the wall, and then tape pictures above or below it in order. In our new house, I’ve continued using the dining room wall. I start at one end of the room and by the end of the year, it typically has wrapped around to the other side.

We include lots of people and events and so our images are fairly small. I create very basic cards in a Google Doc and add images using the Insert > Image > Search the Web feature, and fit about six to nine cards a page. I don’t mess with margins or do anything to make them pretty, but if that’s your charism, you certainly can! Holy cards are an easy option for including saints. I usually wait until I have about a half dozen images to post and then we’ll place them and I’ll ask review questions about the people and events. Sometimes the art will spark a question or conversation as well…like how Charles V’s weird portrait led to a recent discussion in our home regarding in-breeding and royal bloodlines…good times.

You can also save time with premade timeline images.

• History Through the Ages Timeline Materials
• FREE Homeschooling 2E Timeline Images
• Highhill Education Timeline Images

A Book Timeline

If you don’t have the wall space, you can either create one family timeline in a book, or let each child create their own, adding more or less events and details based on their ages/ grades. (Charlotte Mason peeps call this a “Book of Centuries“.) You can use lined paper in a binder or notebook, a specially designed book, or create an accordion style book that will open into a long timeline but fold up in a smaller size. Students can write in all the same information and even add drawings or facts that interest them. Images can be hand-drawn, found through a Google search or added using the image sources listed above. Premade books may have limited space, but by creating a book that has say, one page per decade (or a very eventful year!) kids can add all sorts of information. If your child discovers a section of their book is empty, you can encourage them to hunt out interesting events (you might not have studied otherwise) to fill the gap. In addition, a child who is into say, cars could include a lot more info on cars than his siblings and in the process perhaps learn about how other major historic events impacted the innovation of the automobile. Or just find a place to record all the interesting facts he learns instead of sharing them with you 24/7.

• Timeline / Book of Centuries Printables
• DIY Accordion Timeline Notebook
• Timeline Book of Centuries
• My Timeline Notebook
• Timeline Book of Centuries: Create Your Own Unique Record of History

Premade Timelines

There are also many timelines, in poster or book form, that you can just pick up and use as they are – no searching or writing! They’re an easy way to incorporate the benefits of studying with a timeline into your homeschool. Obviously the biggest downside is the inability to customize them, but sometimes you just need ‘open and go’ to make it happen. It’d be easy to make ‘timeline study’ a part of a morning basket. Or, rather than create a timeline from the history you’re already studying, just move across the timeline and study whatever pops up, supplementing with other living books. This could be a fun option with younger kids.

• Timelines of World History
• The Big History Timeline Wallbook: Unfold the History of the Universe?from the Big Bang to the Present Day!
• History Year by Year: The History of the World, from the Stone Age to the Digital Age
• The Big History Timeline Stickerbook: From the Big Bang to the present day; 14 billion years on one amazing timeline!
• Timelines of History: The Ultimate Visual Guide to the Events That Shaped the World

Who else uses a timeline in their homeschool? Anyone? Anyone? Ask me any questions, or share any tips below!