History Timelines in your Homeschool

AmblesideOnline and other Charlotte Mason curricula emphasize history timelines. In this video I talk about the hows and whys of history timelines, and encourage mamas to keep it simple and stay out of the way.
EDIT 8/17/23: I have had some questions about how exactly we divided up the years per page. Generally, we did 100 years/page until 1400, then 50years/page until 1700, then 25 years/page until 1850ish, then 10 years/page. You can add pages each year. Hope that helps!

[@heatherrobinson9065]

Thank you so much for this! I didn’t even consider there wouldn’t be a space for the younger ones to add onto a family timeline! I also really love, “let it be theirs!” 😊

[@cairparavelacademy]

I'm so glad it was helpful to you!

[@ToriandRobMoore]

This was incredibly helpful! This is my first year with Ambleside and I have been so overwhelmed with the timeline. I haven't even started it this year! YIKES! I even have a timeline in my amazon cart to help but after watching your video this has helped scale back my anxiety about this project and how to go about it! Thank you so much for being so practical and reminding me it's all about the process NOT the product! I will definitely be subscribing to your channel!

[@cairparavelacademy]

I'm so glad it was helpful! Thank you for your encouragement!

[@katiebigelow1587]

Hello! I am so grateful for your videos. They are an answer to prayers for me. I love the simplicity of these timelines and how your children have taken control of their learning experience. It's so overwhelming seeing all of these beautiful timelines created by mothers. It has seemed like "just one more thing" to do. But I love how you point out here that mothers taking control of the timelines robs the children of their learning and history education. Thank you so much. I wish I could sit down for lunch with you and ask you all of my homeschool questions and talk about my girls. I have 3 girls (ages 4, 3, 14 months) and I am pregnant with my 4th. I feel like you are such a wise woman of faith and I really admire you. I wish I had someone like you in my life! I am obviously more in the preparation and mother culture stages of homeschool and so I am soaking up all the information from your videos! If you ever need ideas for your videos, I would love to hear your perspective on the following topics: first day of school/a day in the life of your homeschool, more family traditions (I LOVE your Christmas video), managing the home while homeschooling, and tips for narrowing down free reads.

[@cairparavelacademy]

You are so kind! It sounds like your family is similar to ours a few years ago, so I feel like I am speaking to my younger self :) I check messages on instagram @cairparavelacademy much more frequently so if you ever have any specific questions I'm happy to sit down for a virtual chat chat over tea. Those are some great ideas for future videos - thanks! Blessings to you and your family!

[@maryleibel8106]

This was such a very helpful video, thank you. I have appreciated your videos so much this spring/summer as we have been preparing to start using Ambleside for the fist time with Y1, Y3 & Y5. Your placement video was very helpful to me as well. Thank you again for taking the time to make these videos and share what you have learned ♥️

[@cairparavelacademy]

Thank you! I'm so glad you have found them helpful! Blessings to all of you as you begin AO!

[@TheChan7]

Thanks for your videos. I’m enjoying them. Just subscribed. Timeline has always been an “extra” for our family but I really want it to come to life and be fun. We have 4 daughters. Love raising girls. I also have a channel mainly about homeschooling and it would be fun to be friends and connect here 😊

[@cairparavelacademy]

Sorry I'm just now seeing this! I always love connecting, especially with fellow girl moms :)

[@jenniferhoklin5000]

Thank you for posting this! I love how simple and practical the timelines are! What years do you do this history timeline? And what year would you begin a Book of Centuries? I’m just starting AO this fall and still learning!

[@cairparavelacademy]

You're welcome! The timeline is good especially for years 1-6. When the history cycle starts over at the end of year 6 you could switch over to a Book of Centuries, which allows more detail and is good for older students. Hope that helps!

[@hannahgravelle]

Super helpful video, thank you!

[@cairparavelacademy]

You're welcome! Thanks for your encouragement!

[@BrunhildValkyrie]

I love this, thank you! Great reminder that it really doesn’t need to be fancy and what matters is what the child decides and remembers from their readings. ❤️ Also, with card stock timeline did you put a century on each page?

[@cairparavelacademy]

We found it best to vary how much time was on each page. In earlier years, with less historical detail (1200 AD, for instance), a century was great. But later centuries, like the 1800s, needed more room so you might do 25 years per page. The good thing is you can just add pages each year as you need them. You don't have to tape together 15 pages for year 1 :)

[@BrunhildValkyrie]

@@cairparavelacademy Makes total sense. Thank you!

[@joysilas4724]

Are you able to make a video on habit training?

[@cairparavelacademy]

Yes, that would be a great topic! I'm hoping to make some more videos this winter so I will add that to my list. Thank you!

[@joysilas4724]

@@cairparavelacademy Thank you! I love your content!

[@francesbrotherton8442]

With GWW the read daily, do you have your kids make an entry for every reading in those books or maybe choose one or two readings from each week?

[@cairparavelacademy]

Ideally each reading will have an entry. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes :)

[@eowynelin3351]

How many years go on each page for this?

[@cairparavelacademy]

It will vary. Medieval times might be 100 years to a page, then the 1800s might be 10 years to a page. The good thing is you can add/reattach as you need.

[@haleyfink6325]

Hi! When you mentioned that your daughter used illustrations from Abraham Lincoln world, are those her own drawings that you scaled down and printed or from the book?

[@cairparavelacademy]

She used those illustrations as inspiration for her own drawings. She probably traced some elements, especially at the beginning :)

[@haleyfink6325]

@@cairparavelacademy i love that💜 as im doing a timline with my Y1 my artistic juices are kicking in and I almost want to keep my own as well but don't want to rain on his parade ya know!?

[@cairparavelacademy]

@@haleyfink6325 You might enjoy keeping a commonplace book of your own!