Using Timeline Figures With The Good And The Beautiful History 1
A little over five years ago, when my oldest was starting kindergarten, we began our homeschool journey. We chose Sonlight curriculum for a number of reasons, the ability to “open and go” being a driving force for us as newbies. One of the things we purchased with Sonlight was the Timeline Book (or Book of Time as it used to be called). The timeline figures Sonlight used with this book come from Homeschool In the Woods and are absolutely amazing.
As time went on I found myself “tweaking” Sonlight and adding other things that were a better fit for us. As we branched out into other history curriculum I realized I wanted to keep going in our timeline books. A bit of internet digging turned up the fact that the timeline figures are available all together on one set of two CDs. This is an amazing resource that we use every year!
How We Use the Timeline Figures
There are two CDs in the set. One CD has two copies of each individual figure in GIF format – one with text and one without. The second CD has PDF pages setup by time period with the images in two different sizes, also with and without the text. The set is incredibly flexible.
We have used the set to print figures on sticker paper and stick them into our Sonlight timeline book. We have used it to print page-sized figures as coloring pages. I have also printed the figures page-sized on card stock and let the kids watercolor paint them while we read aloud.
Sonlight Book of Time with Timeline Figures attached
My favorite way to use them is to print them on sticker paper and have the kids cut them out and stick them into our timeline books. When they were younger I did the cutting and helped them with placement. I use a word processing program to layout a page full of the events I want and print them on Avery 15265 Full Page Shipping Labels.
I love how these books give us a concrete way to see where something falls historically. We can flip backwards and forwards and compare our current focus to other events in history to see how far apart they occurred. We have had many “aha!” moments working with these. The figures help me to use the lessons from TGTB and give them a picture and a place in history. For my kids and I this really helps to anchor the “pieces of the story” and make them come alive!
Suffice to say I love these timeline figures and how they work with any curriculum. So when we started The Good and the Beautiful History this year (which we love!) I wanted to keep using them to add to our timeline book. You could also use Google Slides and make a digital timeline with them.
Timeline Figures Aligned To TGTB History 1
These are the figures we are using with The Good and Beautiful History 1. Not every lesson has a timeline figure that coordinates with it. We had already placed some of these figures in our book in previous years, so I just had the kids add color to those with colored pencils.
Unit 1 – Ancient History
| Lesson | Timeline Figures |
|---|---|
| Creation | The Creation c. 5000 B.C |
| Adam Through Enoch | Adam and Eve c. 5000 B.C.
Cain and Abel c. 5000 B.C. Enoch c. mid 4000s B.C. |
| Noah through Tower of Babel | Noah and the Flood c. 3500 B.C.
The Tower of Babel c. 3500-3300 B.C. |
| Ancient Egypt: Daily Life and Writing | The Rosetta Stone 196 B.C. |
| Ancient Egypt: Government and Buildings | Cheops (Khufu) c. 2600 B.C. |
| Ancient Egypt: Afterlife & Herodotus | Herodotus c. 484 B.C. |
| Abraham | Abraham and Sarah c. 2100 B.C. |
| Isaac & Rebekah | Isaac c. 2100-2000 B.C.
Jacob and Esau c. 2005 B.C. |
| Joseph In Egypt | Joseph c. 1914 B.C.
Israelite Slavery Begins c. 1875-1730 B.C. |
| Moses/Passover | Moses and the Exodus c. 1400s B.C. |
| Egypt from 600BC to Modern Day | Menes c. 3100 B.C.
Amenhotep IV (Pharaoh Akhenaton) c. 1385-1353 B.C. Cheops (Khufu) c. 2600 B.C. Alexander III 356-323 B.C. The Arab-Muslim Sweep 633-732 A.D. Saint Simon and the Coptic Orthodox Church 979 A.D. |
Unit 2 – Middle Ages & Renaissance
| Lesson | Timeline Figures |
|---|---|
| Ancient Britain | Stonehenge c. 2700 B.C.
King Arthur 465-542 A.D. |
| Spread of Christianity in Ireland/St. Patrick | Patrick 385-461 A.D. |
| Spread of Christianity in England | Eusebius 300 A.D.
Constantine I 285-337 A.D. Pope Gregory the Great 590-604 A.D Augustine of Canterbury died 604 |
| King Alfred the Great | Alfred the Great 849-899 A.D. |
| William the Conqueror | William I 1027-1087 A.D. |
| Life in the Middle Ages | Middle Ages c. 476-1453 A.D.
The Feudal System Begins 8th century A.D. |
| Magna Carta | King John (John Lackland) 1167-1216 A.D.
Philip II (Philip Augustus) 1165-1223 A.D. Magna Carta June 1215 A.D. |
| Age of Chivalry | The Crusades 11th, 12th, & 13th centuries A.D.
Peter the Hermit 1050-1115 A.D. |
| Joan of Arc | Hundred Years War 1337-1453 A.D.
Joan of Arc 1412-1431 A.D. |
| Black Death and Renaissance | Black Death 14th century A.D.
European Renaissance 1300s-1600 A.D. Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519 A.D. |
| Scientific Revolution | Johannes Gutenberg 1390s-1468 A.D.
Nicolaus Copernicus 1473-1543 A.D. Johannes Kepler 1571-1630 A.D. Galileo Galilei 1564-1642 A.D. Sir Isaac Newton 1642-1727 A.D. |
| Faithful French Huguenots | Christopher Columbus 1451-1506 A.D.
John Cabot 1450-1498 A.D. |
Unit 3 – French and Indian War through Revolutionary War
| Lesson | Timeline Figures |
|---|---|
| New France | Samuel de Champlain 1567-1635 A.D. |
| Young George Washington | George Washington 1732-1799 A.D. |
| French & Indian War | French and Indian War 1754-1763 A.D. |
| Reasons for a Revolution | George III 1738-1820 A.D.
Stamp Act 1765 A.D. |
| Sons of Liberty and Boston Tea Party | Samuel Adams 1722-1803 A.D.
John Adams 1735-1826 A.D. Benedict Arnold 1741-1801 A.D. Boston Tea Party December 16, 1773 A.D. |
| 1st Continental Congress | The American Revolution 1775-1783 A.D.
Paul Revere 1735-1818 A.D. |
| 2nd Continental Congress | Second Continental Congress 1775 A.D.
Patrick Henry 1736-1799 A.D. John Hancock 1737-1793 A.D. |
| Character of Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 A.D. |
| Coming Forth of Declaration of Independence | Declaration of Independence 1776 A.D. |
| John Locke | John Locke 1632-1704 A.D. |
| Battle of Trenton | Battle of Trenton December 26, 1776 A.D. |
| Valley Forge and Alliance with France | Continental Army at Valley Forge December, 1777-June, 1778 A.D.
Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790 A.D. |
| Articles of Confederation | Articles of Confederation 1781 A.D. |
| End of the Revolutionary War | Treaty of Paris September 3, 1783 A.D. |
Unit 4 – Victorian Era, History of Flight, Cold War Era
| Lesson | Timeline Figures |
|---|---|
| Queen Victoria & British Empire | Queen Victoria 1819-1901 A.D. |
| Victorian Period | Industrial Revolution Begins c. 1750 A.D. |
| Foreign Missionary Movement | David Livingstone 1813-1873 A.D.
William Carey 1761-1834 A.D. James Hudson Taylor 1832-1905 A.D. Adoniram Judson 1788-1850 A.D. |
| Foreign Missionary Movement Pt. 2 | Gladys Aylward 1902-1970 A.D.
Eric Liddell 1902-1945 A.D. Amy Carmichael 1867-1951 A.D. George Muller 1805-1898 A.D. |
| Two Famous Victorians | Charles Robert Darwin 1809-1882 A.D.
James Watt 1736-1819 A.D. George Stephenson 1781-1848 A.D. |
| Florence Nightingale & Great Irish Famine | Florence Nightingale 1820-1910 A.D.
Irish Potato Famine 1845-1850 A.D. |
| History of Flight | Wilbur & Orville Wright 1867-1912 & 1871-1948 A.D.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh 1902-1974 A.D. Amelia Earhart c. 1897-1937 A.D. Hindenburg Disaster May 6, 1937 A.D. |
| Cold War Part 1: Berlin Blockade | The Stock Market Crash and The Great Depression 1929-1930s A.D.
World War II 1939-1945 A.D. The Cold War 1945-1991 A.D. Iron Curtain 1945-1990 A.D. NATO “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” 1949 A.D. Warsaw Pact Established 1955 A.D. |
| Cold War Part 2: Rebellion and Resistance | Joseph Stalin 1879-1953 A.D.
Chiang Kai-shek 1887-1975 A.D. Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong) 1893-1976 A.D. China ruled by Communist regime October 1, 1949-Present A.D. Korean War 1950-1953 A.D. |
| Space Race | Sputnik I October 4, 1957 A.D.
Explorer I & NASA 1958 A.D. John Herschel Glenn, Jr. 1921- A.D. John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1917-1963 A.D. Apollo Program 1963-1972 A.D. |
| Ronald Reagan | Ronald Wilson Reagan 1911-2004 A.D. |
| Fall of Communism | Collapse of Soviet Union 1991 A.D. |
Where to Buy the Timeline Figures on CD
Do you use timeline figures or a book of time in your homeschool? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment and let me know how you use timelines!
I love the Timeline Figures you have to accompany TGTB. Do you have these same resources for Year 2?
Unfortunately I don’t. Sorry about that!