Timeline Flash Cards

I know these look like the regular timeline cards, no big deal, right?
Well... they're actually mini cards!

My fabulous, wonderful, ah-mazing hubs scanned all the cards in (front-side only), shrunk them down, and then I laminated them. Woot! 

First I printed out the file, then I taped a pretty scrapbook page to the back. Next I cut each card out, numbered the back, and then I hit the laminator.

It helped me to use a different scrapbook page/print for each page of cards. This way, when they're all scattered across the floor it's easy to just group by design rather than having to look at each number.

The mini's (that's what I'm calling them; they're just too cute!) fit in standard baseball card sleeves. I've got some in my CC binder, and then the cards for the current week I keep in a little basket I picked up at the dollar store. Now Mary can mix them up and put them in the correct order to review! Easy cheesy!

If you'd like your own Timeline Mini's, you'll have to make them yourself. I know, bummer, right?! But you can do it! Just scan, print, laminate, and there you go! :)

This post is being submitted for the October edition of Brandy's CC Blog Carnival at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood.

Timeline Card & Bible Story Integration - Pt. 2

Our timeline card and Bible story schedule has been working out really well for us in the mornings. I've received some sweet comments asking for the next installment, so, tonight I sat down with all of my materials, ready to make the most of the night, and. . . well, I learned that this schedule can only go so far (I don't know why I didn't realize this sooner... did I really expect to find Charlemagne and Zimbabwe in the Bible? Ha!). Bummer! In fact, it really can't go much further than the first six and a half weeks. So, the good news is that after TC 46 (Herod's Temple Destroyed by Titus), you can do whatever you want! For us, I think we're going to start at the beginning of the New Testament and read two chapters a day at the table after breakfast. If we run across any Geography memory work that can be found in the Bible, I'll read that, too (and I'll try to include those references in my weekly plans). So, here is the rest of our schedule:

Week 7

Day 1: (TC43) John 11:25-26, 2:19, Mark 15:21-38 (Death), and Mark 16:1-8 (Resurrection)
Day 2: (TC44) Acts 2:1-47 (Pentecost)
Day 3: (TC45) Acts 6:5-7:60 (Stephen), Acts 8:1-4, 9:1-31 (Saul's Conversion)
Day 4: (TC46) Mat. 24:1-2, Luke 13:34-35 (Prediction of Destruction of Temple)

And that's it, friends. However, there is a variation if you have littles and Day 3 is just too long. Day 5 is about Diocletian dividing the Roman Empire. The timeline card doesn't mention this, but Diocletian tried to destroy Christianity by ordering all the Scriptures burned and executing anyone found with them. So, if the passages about Christian persecution are too long on Day 3, you could save the story of Paul (Acts 9) for Day 5. And then, that really is the end of finding Bible stories that correspond to the daily timeline cards. But, if anyone thinks of another way to tie it all together, puh-leeze comment and share your ideas! :)

If you're just joining us and have no idea what I'm talking about, check out our schedule for the first six weeks here.

There is a little silver lining in all of this though - this schedule (albeit it's only seven weeks) repeats every cycle! :)

Timeline Card and Bible Story Integration

I really want to make the most out of the new CC timeline cards. Rushing through them would be a terrible waste of this beautiful resource (I absolutely love History and timelines, so I'm a little partial here). I also want to weave the Bible into every area of study. On my lesson plans (post about how I keep track of those is coming soon), I have Bible Story, then CC Memory Work, then the rest of our daily subjects. I really want to put those two together, at least Timeline and Bible, and I think I came up with a way that will work for our family. I'm sharing it here, because maybe you're looking for something similar. Maybe not. But here's what we're planning on doing:

I'm using the Bible (obviously, right) and Ancient Civilizations & the Bible Elementary Activity Book by Diana Waring ($10 online). This book is recommended for grades K-4, and that's about right. My PreK girl won't be able to do much of the written activities, but the commentary is great, and it has some really neat ideas about crafts, songs, etc. I'll definitely use this more the next time Cycle 1 rolls around in two years, but I'm certainly glad I have it now, too.

Okay, here's my plan: There are seven timeline cards introduced each week, so each day at the breakfast table I'll go over one 'special' timeline card in depth (but we'll still review them all after we go over the special card). Does that make sense? I also want to read a Bible story everyday right after breakfast, so I put together a daily Bible reading schedule that corresponds (as closely as possible) to that day's special timeline card. If I couldn't find a Bible story/passage that illustrates that day's card, I chose Scripture that relates to the History sentence or Geography work for that week. 

In the information below, TC is for Timeline Card and it's number on the back (these are the new ones, not the Veritas Press ones), and AC is for the Ancient Civilizations book (above) with its corresponding page number. For us, Day 1 for each week is Wednesday, the day following our weekly CC meeting. And here we go!

Week 1

Day 1: (TC2*) Gen. 1-3, Creation & Fall (ACp7)
Day 2: (TC3) Gen. 5-8, Noah & Flood (ACp7)
Day 3: (TC3) Gen. 10-11, Tower of Babel (ACp17)
Day 4: (TC4) Gen. 11:27-12:9, Abram leaves Ur (ACp17)
Day 5: (TC5) Gen. 37, 39, 41 (ACp25)
Day 6: Exodus 5-12, Plagues & Passover (ACp25)
Here is a really adorable pdf file of 'plague people' that I'll use when I'm reading this passage. It's from 1+1+1=1, which is an amazing site!
Day 7: Exodus 12:37-15:21 (ACp25)

Week 2
Day 1: Ex. 20, Ten Commandments
Day 2: (TC9) Gen. 42, Patriarchs, Joseph meets his brothers in Egypt
Day 3: (TC10) Josh. 5:13-6:27, Joshua & Jericho (ACp33)
Day 4: Judges 6:11-7:22, Gideon (ACp33)
Day 5: (TC12) 2 Kings 18:13-19:37 (ACp40)
Day 6: (TC13) Dan. 4:4-37, King Neb. Crazy (ACp40)
Day 7: Dan. 5:1-31, Handwriting on Wall (ACp41)

Week 3

(First three days go along with this week's History sentence - see my Cycle 3 post)

Day 1: Acts 14:6-20, Paul and Barnabas mistaken for gods (mentions Zeus/Jupiter and Hermes)
Day 2: Acts 17:16-33, Paul visits Athens, Paul on Mars Hill (ACp58)
Day 3: Acts 19:24-41, Riot almost breaks out (mentions Artemis/Diana)
Day 4: (TC18) Ex. 12-15, Exodus (this is a repeat from Week 1, but can you ever get enough of Exodus?! We can't!)
Day 5: (TC19) Joshua 9-10, Sun & Moon Stand Still
Day 6: 1 Samuel 1-3
Day 7: (TC21) 1 Sam. 8:1-10:27, 16:1-17:58, 1 Kings 1:1-3:28, United Kingdom (ACp33)

Week 4
Day 1: 1 Kings 5-7, Temple Built 
Day 2: (TC23) 1 Kings 11:9-12:30, Divided Kingdom (ACp33)
Day 3: 1 Kings 18, Elijah's Contest 
Day 4: 2 Kings 2, A Ride to Heaven
Day 5: (TC26) 2 Kings 17:5-18:12, Israel Falls (ACp40)
Day 6: (TC27) Dan. 1:1-2:26, Daniel Interprets Dream (ACp40)
Day 7: Daniel 4, King Nebuchadnezzar (AC40) (this is also a repeat from Week 2)

Week 5

Day 1: (TC29) 2 Kings 24-25
Day 2: (TC30) Ezra 1:1-2:1, Persia (ACp50)
Day 3: (TC31) Ezra 3:1-6:22, Jews Return (ACp50)
Day 4: Esther 1-3
Day 5: (TC33) Esther 4-7, King Xerxes (ACp51)
Day 6: Esther 8-10
Day 7: (TC35) Dan. 8:5-8, 21-22; 11:1-4, Alexander Described (ACp58)

Week 6
(First five days go along with our History sentence - see my Cycle 6 post)
Day 1: Acts 9, Saul Meets Jesus
Day 2: Acts 16, Paul and Silas in Jail
Day 3: Acts 19:21, Paul Says He Goes to Rome; Acts 25-26, Paul Appeals to Caesar
Day 4: Acts 27-28, Paul's Shipwreck
Day 5: Acts 15:24, 28, Paul Talks About Going To Spain (Geography)
Day 6: (TC41) Mat. 2, Luke 2, Augustus Caesar; Dan. 2:40, Rise of Rome (ACp67)
Day 7: (TC42) Mat. 3:1-17, John Baptizes Jesus (ACp74)

UPDATE: Part 2 of our schedule is now available here.

* I didn't start with Timeline Card 1, but I will read it the first day. I just decided to go into detail with TC2 because it was the beginning of time.

Well, there you have it. Some days have longer readings, some days have shorter ones, and some are even repeats. If you have the new timeline cards, you know that some of the cards have Bible references already listed on them. My little timeline and Bible integration plan might turn out to be a disaster or it might actually work (praying!). I'll let you know how it goes once we officially start CC (less than two weeks now!)

If you think a schedule like this is something you might find helpful for your family, please let me know in a comment and I'll post the next six weeks' schedule after I put it together. If something doesn't make sense, or if you can see a place in the schedule where I've totally messed up, puh-leeze let me know in a comment, too! I'll certainly take all the help I can get! :)