The Power Of Maps And Timelines In Your Homeschool {week 15 lesson plans and recap}

Over the years, we have increasingly added maps and timelines to our learning. I find it’s a great way to make concepts visible and tangible for my son. Every week this year, I am sharing our weekly lesson plans, as well as a recap of our prior week. This is Week 15 and it’s a great example of all the ways we use maps and timelines in our homeschool.

When I was in school, I loved maps. I absolutely LOVED them.

I still see maps as a kind of work of art. They are visually pleasing to be sure. But looking back, I can see that one of the reasons I loved maps most was that they helped me visualize parts of the world I had only read about in books, or heard about from my teachers.

I needed maps (and still do) to ground new information about the world in my brain.

The Power Of Maps And Timelines In Your Homeschool

Table Of Contents

Fast forward thirty years and I am now homeschooling a child even more visual and tangible in his learning needs than I ever was. His unique learning differences make comprehension and retention of new information much more likely if he has something “concrete” to tie it to.

Thus, maps and timelines.

How We Use Maps And Timelines In Our Homeschool

Rarely a week goes by that are not referencing a map when a particular place is mentioned in a book or YouTube video. Anything related to history and the passing of time has always been easier with a timeline. In fact, we even used a timeline to help him master the days of the week. (Sidewalk chalk was a gamechanger for timelines when he was younger!)

Now that he is in high school, we use them both more than ever. Age appropriate and visually appealing, you’ll see that maps and timelines were a big part of our week last week.

Before we look at the week, you should know that we are using a world history book of timelines. We used to make our own, but again, age appropriate is a big deal around here. This book has fold-out history timelines for various areas of the world as well as a giant timeline for all of world history (affiliate link to Timelines of World History HERE).

Last Week’s Homeschool Lesson Plans vs. Reality:

Monday

THE PLAN

YouTube Video – His choice
Audiobook and Discussion
Infusion – 4 hours

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

NATO Mapwork
Audiobook and Discussion
Infusion – 4 hours

Tuesday

THE PLAN

Drivers Ed Online
Everyday Math Word Problems
Human Body Final Overview
YouTube Video – His choice, something educational
Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Drivers Ed Online
Trivia – are you smarter than a 5th grader
Beyond Personal Finance – Budgeting as an adult
Spelling list practice
Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour

Wednesday

THE PLAN

Rock Climbing with Coach – 2 hours
Driver’s Ed Module
CTCMath
Audiobook and Discussion
Science: Experiment TBD
Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Audiobook and Discussion
CTCMath
NATO Mapwork
Climbing in backyard
Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports

Thursday

THE PLAN

Audiobook and Discussion
YouTube Video – His choice
Reading practice – Shakespeare
Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Human Body Quiz
Audiobook and Discussion
Vocabulary words from audiobook for the week
CTCMath
Creative Writing – If I Met Edgar Allan Poe in 1829
- Also looked at the timeline book to see what else was happening around the world in 1829
Rock Climbing At Home In Backyard

Friday

THE PLAN

CTCMath
Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
Creative Writing Activity
YouTube Video – his choice and educational
American History – The 13 Colonies

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

American History – The arrival of De Soto in Florida
- Read about it
- Draw his passage across the Atlantic on the map
- Check the timeline to see how close it was to the pilgrims and what else was going on in the rest of the world at the same time.
Audiobook and Discussion
Urban Driving Videos (Drivers Ed)
Rock Climbing In Our Backyard