Time Lines

 
I have decided to use a timeline for Sir N.  Sonlight does sell a Book of Time, personally I find it a little small and wanted something a little larger to use.  This past week I have spent time making a time line for Sir N.  He is so proud of the finished creation and shows it to anyone who will take the time to look. 


I have chosen to use Amy Pack's time line figures from Homeschool in the Woods. I purchased this to use with the first two and will be using it again with Sir N. There is also a CD version available containing 1 260 + figures. I will also be using Amy's placement guide.

I really love colour printers and the advent of the internet. There is so much available now to use and make things look beautiful.  I think I need to update my original book of time after seeing how Sir N's book looks.  I enjoyed making Sir N's book so much I took out our original books of time and thought I would show you what we made a few years back -

How I made the Book of Time

I purchased an A3 visual arts diary from the Reject Shop they are well priced here at AU$6 a book.  I used some dry markers (any thick texta will do [texta, koki pen, felt tips]) 
The cover was made using two A4 sheets of paper, to protect it and for longevity I am going to cover it with clear plastic film (Duraseal self adhesive covering)

Next I divided the page horizontally in half  and drew lines to mark the line of time.  I have spaced the years in Sir N's book of time according to Amy's recommended break down.  It took around 45 minutes to complete all the lines needed for the book.

I used four different colours for four different periods in history.

• Red for ancient history Creation to Christ 5 000 BC to 1 BC
• Green for Resurrection toRevolution 1 AD to 1780 AD
• Blue for Napoleon to the New Millinium 1781 AD - 1999 AD
• Black New Millinium to now 2000 AD to 2030 AD

Amy has a wonderful page called Teaching with Timelines in which she gives you a multitude of ideas of what is possible using timeline figures. My book of time is just one of the options available.

Year spacing

Along each line I have put the individual years.  I have not marked the whole book yet.  I have decided to mark the pages as we need them.  I have made a paper ruler with the following marks to make it easier.

• 1000 year to a page = 4 cm to every 100 years.
• 500 years to a page = 8 cm to every 100 years.
• 100 years to a page = 4 cm to every 10 years.
• 50 years to a page = 4 cm to every 5 years.
• 5 years to a page = 8 cm to every year.

Adding Family makes it REAL

When I first starting using timelines with my first two roses I decided to add us to the timeline and am so glad that I did. One day we were reading a book about Eric Liddell and discovered my parents in law were born while he was alive. 
This was the ah ha moment for my children.  My son looked and me and said:"So these are real people mom not just pretend ?"
As a result of our new technological age I went through my photo's and cropped and added photo's of all the Grandparents, Aunts,  Uncles, cousins and siblings to a page. Each picture is about 2.5 cm X 4 cm in size.  We cut them out and glued them into the book of time.

 I am so pleased with the overall effect I have printed a set off for myself to add to my book of time.

Time line books available to purchase

Sonlight Book of Time

History Through the Ages from Homeschool in the Woods

If you have made any time lines I would love to see some photo's of what you have done and hear how you have used time lines with your family.