History Through the Ages Timeline CDs

Timelines appeal to me. They aid visual, kinesthetic, spatial, and logical thinkers. What’s not to love?

Well, the work of putting together a visually appealing, cohesive, historically-accurate timeline, for one. How about the time it takes to find all of those little pictures? What about deciding which dates to include? What about figuring out how to put the thing together? What about figuring out where to put it?

The details of the timeline were dragging me down, threatening the reality of creating one in our home.

It seemed to me that some sort of timeline was a foregone conclusion in our home school, but there were several burdens to bear. Although I could have done the work myself, it is more likely that the timeline would have fallen by the wayside without a little outside intervention.

I found the help that I needed to make the timeline happen in our home at Homeschool in the Woods. Their History Through the Ages Timeline answered many of my questions, solved some problems, and simplified everything else.

I purchased the CDs, which include over a thousand historical figures. The figures represent people, places, and events throughout time. It is truly history through the ages, encapsulating a variety of different realms—political, military, social, art, music, and literature. Likewise, both secular and biblical and church history are included.

There are two CDs in the case. They contain the same figures, but one CD presents the figures in PDF format, the other in GIF format. Both CDs contain the figures with only a name and a date, as well as the figures with a short text summarizing the importance of the person, place, event, people group, or time period. There are two sizes of PDF files—wall and notebook size. These files print in pages of figures; they are arranged chronologically. The GIF files can be chosen and sized to fit specific needs, and are easily accessible using categories that serve as an index.

I have used the timeline figures for two major purposes in our academics.

We have begun a paper timeline that is stored in a binder. It is simple, but effective, visually presenting history through the use of Amy Pak’s intricately drawn figures. We add figures as time allows, which generally means a marathon session with the binder and a glue stick. We also add a little bit of color coding, just to help us remember who and where go with what and when.

I have also made a set of timeline cards—people, dates, and events with which I hope for us to maintain familiarity. I used a glue stick to adhere the appropriate timeline figure onto an index card, and voila, instant and cost effective timeline card! We study a fourth of history at a time, but we are able to easily review material from previous years. As an added bonus, I could choose the dates, which means that we review events from all through time and all over the world, customizing the cards to our studies.

My children are in elementary school, so a lot of the work of the timeline falls to me. As they get older, I will expect them to be more involved in the preparation, decisions, and details of our timelines. I foresee lots of mini-timelines and personal timelines and subject-specific timelines. It will be a timeline extravaganza! All brought to us from Homeschool in the Woods and their History Through the Ages Timeline CDs!

The Historical Timeline Figures come preprinted and in CD form. The preprinted sets contain figures that are 2.5” by 3.5” and are sold in historical groupings: Creation to Christ, Resurrection to Revolution, Napoleon to Now, and America’s History. They cost $22.95 each, with the exception of the American history set, which costs $32.95 due to its larger size.

The CDs contain the same figures found in all four sets plus a bonus set of additional figures. The CD allows for multiple printings and for resizing of timeline figures. The CDs contain 1,260 historical figures in both PDF and GIF formats, as well as the timeline information found on the website. It costs $74.95.

There is also a handy, dandy Timeline Placement Guide that I have found useful as I tried to determine placement of figures. The $11.95 has been well worth it, because it contains a sample timeline in miniature that includes all of the timeline figures on the CD.

The History Through the Ages Timeline CDs were a major investment for our homeschool. I have been pleased with both the figures and their use in our home, and believe that they will continue to be a benefit in the years to come. I bought them early in our homeschool journey so that we could suck all of the use out of them in multiple years and in a variety of ways. So far, so good!

Are you in need of a little timeline help? The History Through the Ages Timeline CDs may be answer!

-Most days find Susan on the couch reading to her children, in the floor “playing” math, and generally in the middle of a good-sized mess. A love for the Lord, a love for her little ones, and a love of learning have led Susan and her wonderful husband to an educational philosophy that is Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical and Charlotte Mason, with a touch of the traditional.