Half a Hundred Acre Wood

Christian homeschooling integrating Classical and Charlotte Mason principles

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Learning a chronological timeline is immensely valuable. Memorizing history sentences with songs is great. But… I think the single one thing that has helped me to gain a better understanding of history has been keeping a timeline…         -Taken from Studying History through the Ages

Five years have passed since I originally shared the thoughts above. Fast forward to today, and our first has graduated (and is now a college student), two are in middle & high school, and only one remains in elementary. Although our family’s dynamic has shifted a bit, we’re still using this tool for gaining a greater grasp of the past. Keeping a timeline has helped us immensely with recognizing relationships between events, understanding the story of different concurrent civilizations across continents, and witnessing God’s hand in the story of the world – from civilizations and science to music and art. As we’ve gained a better understanding of history through the ages, we’ve noticed patterns re-occurring, which further provides wisdom for the decisions we make today.

Five years have passed, and the History through the Ages Timeline Figures from Homeschool in the Woods (not to be confused with Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood) are still the best anywhere. The only drawback we’ve encountered in using them is navigating through the sheer quantity of figures. With over 1,400 figures, it hasn’t been easy to find the figures we’ve needed as we’ve read through The Story of the World…

…but, alas! That problem is no more! It has been solved with this History through the Ages and Story of the World Match-Up  from the artist behind the figures, Amy Pak! (I cannot thank Amy enough for providing this much-desired, much-requested match-up for readers of The Story of the World!)

This match-up corresponds specifically to the newly released History through the Ages Essential Timeline Library, which includes the Original Timeline Figure Collection, along with three other add-on figure packs specifically for The Story of the World: Add-On Pak-2 (47 modern figures of the 20th and 21st centuries), and Add-On Pak-3 (110 figures from ancient times to the 19th century). Note: If you own the Original Timeline Figure Collection (without any Add-On Paks), you can use this version of The Story of the World Timeline Figure Match-Up, or you can upgrade your timeline set with the Add-On Paks to have a more complete timeline for The Story of the World.

We previously wrote extensively about the History through the Ages Timeline here. Now we simply want to share how to use this resource with The Story of the World. Our family is excited to re-build our timeline real-time as we work through The Story of the World again!

If you’re in need of The Story of the World, you can find them in our shop here.

Using History through the Ages with The Story of the World

After reading a chapter in The Story of the World, we reference the History through the Ages and The Story of the World Match-Up for the corresponding timeline figures.

Having previously printed the entire History through the Ages Timeline Figure set, we find those figures by referencing the footer of each page.

Once we’ve cut them out, we reference either the History through the Ages Suggested Placement Guide or the timeline in the appendix of The Story of the World.

For ancient times, the dates do not always match up due to differing thoughts about the timeframe in which certain events occurred. When we’re using our Record of Time Notebook, we use the Suggested Placement Guide from Homeschool in the Woods because we are filling it with all the figures in the Timeline Library.

However, for the history we’re learning via Mission: Great Commission (which uses The Story of the World over a two-year timespan), we’re using this Timeline Notebook which we’ve printed on cardstock and spiral-bound.

In this timeline notebook, we read through each chapter, placing only the figures related to that day’s reading. Because events occur simultaneously in different countries/continents, the process of telling history (even chronologically) requires some backing up in time and restarting in another area of the world to gain a full picture of what is happening in each civilization over a certain time period. For example, in The Story of the World Volume 1, Hinduism isn’t mentioned until Chapter 30, although the surrounding figures are mentioned in earlier chapters. By waiting to place the timeline figure until it comes up in the reading, it reinforces when those various events were occurring across the world.

In the History through the Ages Timeline Collection, there are timeline figures for events/people which are not mentioned in The Story of the World, such as Stonehenge. You may decide you want to include those as well.

Not only does keeping the timeline help to see what was happening across the world at glance, but it’s also great for reviewing past history studies, and it makes for a great keepsake! This is why our family prefers the timeline figures that include a short description of each event/civilization/person. However, if you’d prefer to have just the label without a description, those are also provided within the timeline collection. The timeline collection also includes wall-sized figures in case you’d like to keep your timeline on a wall instead of within a notebook.

Again, you can download the Match-Up for The History through the Ages and The Story of the World by clicking here.

The Options

Homeschool in the Woods has gone completely digital with their products. If you’re new to using History through the Ages Timeline Figures, the most cost effective option is to purchase the Printable Essential Timeline Library. This includes all of the figures (including add-on paks made for The Story of the World), as well as the Suggested Placement Guide and timeline notebooking pages.

If you already own the Original Collection of Timeline Figures, all you need is Add-on Pak 2, and Add-On Pak 3.

If you’re interested in purchasing only the timeline figures to use within our Timeline Notebook (or another timeline notebook), you can opt for the Original Timeline Collection and upgrade this timeline figure set by purchasing Add-on Pak 2, and Add-On Pak 3.

If you’re interested in purchasing timeline figures as you use them in The Story of the World, you can purchase each set individually as a digital download as follows (but note that the following individual sets do not include the 80 bonus figures that are in the Complete Timeline Collection):

Click Here to see the Master Index of all timeline figures.

Free Stuff from Homeschool in the Woods

  • “Timeline Helps” and other free resources provides helpful ideas for using the figures with wall and notebook timelines, suggestions for use in a variety of resources and games, and tips for coloring and gluing the figures, samples of Historical timeline Figures, Olde World Style Maps, project pages, and activities from each of their Time Travelers and Project Passports. (Each individual product page also includes samples.)
  • Check out this wonderful Famous Authors Study! Homeschool in the Woods has brought back their popular mini-study on authors as a FREE DOWNLOAD for new subscribers! Sign up for their newsletter here!

Homeschool in the Woods provides incredible hands-on, interactive resources to use if you’re studying ancient history this year (Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and Old Testament or New Testament history) or if you’re studying the Middle Ages and Renaissance and Reformation or American History! Plus, they have great resources for studying chronology and history through the ages, as well as studying the history of astronomy through the Timeline of Science, Invention, and Mathematicians. (For CC folks, this is a fantastic Challenge B resource!)

If you have any questions about these timeline figures or almost any other Homeschool in the Woods product, we’d love to provide answers. Just give us a shout by leaving a comment below!

This post was originally published in September 2021.