First Timeline

by Mary Daly, artwork by Ana Braga-Henebry

Ye Hedge School

Stories are a great way to introduce young children to history. First timeline uses forty brief stories--just right for young ones with limited attention spans--to introduce bits of history in chronological order. First Timeline should be great for children in the primary grades. Most of these stories are about key characters or events in history from around the globe and throughout the ages, beginning with Adam and Eve.

This isn't intended to be a comprehensive curriculum, although it might serve as the spine. You might select particular events or people for expanded study. For example, there is a story of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti. You might jump off for an expanded study of Egypt using another book. Or alongside the story of King David, you might take time to read through more of the Bible about his life.

The book includes a a "First Timeline Verse" at the back that summarizes each story into two rhyming lines.

You can order the book alone or with the mural. The illustration to the right (appearing sidewise here) is a piece of the 4.5" x 81" mural. It comes fan-folded in a small packet for easy storage. You might have your children color it, and you might consider laminating and/or mounting it to have it visible whenever you read the stories.

Another option is a set of 5.5" x 8.5" cards (printed on heavy paper) with the same set of 40 illustrations as are on the mural. These might be colored by children, mounted on the wall, put into chronological order by children, used as dividers for a history notebook, or used in other ways.

Dating might be an issue for some. Adam and Eve are dated at c. 100,000 B.C. It's easy to work around the dating issue, since it's not really discussed within the stories. Christian saints such as St. Stephen, St. Patrick and St. Francis of Assissi are included in the timeline. One story about cathedrals has a particularly Catholic outlook.

First Timeline really fills a niche since it is one of the few age-appropriate history resources with a Christian viewpoint written for this level. (Posted January 2008)