The second thing I have come to understand during my home school journey is that EVERY THING happens somewhere in history. As Diana Waring would say "It's OK to take the Scenic Route when teaching history" It does not matter what subject you pick there is a point in time that it happened. By using a timeline we are able to add in all manner of learning.
"In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction,
drawing the materials of future wisdom
from the past errors and infirmities of mankind."
Edmund Burke
I think that too often we see history as an isolated topic and that was a mistake I made for a long time. I have found that the adventure of teaching history has become a rich tapestry of His hand working to bring us to Himself. There is so much to learn from past errors to past triumphs. For me dates and history are confusing outside of the time line frame work. Personally I am not very good at remembering them. However the relationships in history are more my personal pleasure. I am not saying that there is no point in learning dates, what I am saying is that this is something you need to decide for yourself and act on it. For me it's the people, the relationships and the cause and effect and it's this that attracts me to learning history chronologically.
Resources
When I first started on this journey there were extremely limited resources available and most of us muddled along adding bits and pieces in as we came across them. Today however there is a plethora of chronological points of view and methodology. Here is a list of a few to whet your appetite for what is out there.
- Homeschool in the Woods has the most amazing Time Line figures and historical unit studies.
- Diana Waring has published history from a biblical perspective
- History Revealed: Ancient Civilizations & the Bible
- History Revealed: Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries
- History Revealed: World Empires, World Missions, World Wars
- Sonlight has compiled years of Chronological history with living books and readers
- Sonlight B {Explore the story of the world from Creation through the fall of Rome.}
- Sonlight C {Journey from the fall of Rome through modern world history!}
- Sonlight G {Witness the rise and fall of ancient empires.}
- Sonlight H {Explore the ever-changing world of the past 500 years}
- Sonlight W {Journey through the highlights of World History}
- The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child by Susan Wise Bauer.
- Truth Quest History God Initiates... People respond ... History Happens
- Tapestry of Grace by Lampstand Press
- The Mystery of History by Linda Lacour Hobar
Volume I – Creation to the Resurrection
Volume II – The Early Church and the Middle Ages
Volume III – The Renaissance, Reformation, and Growth of Nations
Volume IV - Wars of Independence to Modern Times
- History {General}
- History {Ancient}
- History {Middle Ages}
- History {Mystery of History Vol 1}
- History {Modern}
- History {Time Lines}
- History {YouTube}
Further reading on the www
- Make your own Time Line Tutorial.
- History Via the Scenic Route by Diana Waring over at History Alive (Part 1 of 4)
- How to Plan Your Own History Curriculum over at The Pelsers.
- How to Teach History Chronologically There's a very good reason to study Rome before Greece. by Cheryl Lowe
- Homeschool History- A Chronological Approach over at Design Your Homeschool
- Teaching with Timelines over at Home School in the Woods.
"History is for human self-knowledge ...the only clue to what man can do is what man has done.The value of history, then, is that it teaches uswhat man has done and thus what man is." R. G. Collingwood
Blessings
Chareen
