How do YOU use your Book of Centuries? « SCM Discussion Forum: Charlotte Mason Method Homeschooling

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How do YOU use your Book of Centuries?

(12 posts) (9 voices)

Started 1 year ago by MamaWebb
Latest reply from Mandi

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MamaWebb
Member

Hello ladies!

We are about to start our new school year and we will be using a BOC for the first time. I am wondering how exactly to go about this. It seems SO open that I am just wondering how exactly to give my kdis some guidlines and pointers. What advice can you give? What do you like to do, or how do your kids like to use their BOC's?

Thanks in advance. (oh, btw, my 13.5 dd, and my 9 ds will be doing thier own BOC's. I will be doing a Family one for myself and the 6.75 dd, the 4 ds, and the 2.75 ds.)

TIA,

Amy

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
simple home
Member

My son just started one too. I know what you mean that it is so open! :) basically I am using it at the end of week for review. We go over briefly the important people and events that were studied and then he places those names (or history stickers) in the corresponding year. I want him to enjoy it as his personal historical treasure, at least I hope. :)

I'm sure others will chime in with more ideas. Have fun!

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
momto2blessings
Member

What I've been doing is whenever we cover something that I think is important for their BOC's, I jot it on a small whiteboard. Every Fri. we go through what I've jotted as a review and they record in their books. I used to use pre-made figures/summaries but heard that in CM's day they jotted down their own entries...which I thought would be better for memory (and I assume they just wouldn't have had pre-made figures in her day:) It's also easier/cheaper for me:) Would love to hear what others do! Blessings, Gina

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
missceegee
Member

I'm using the new My Book of Ceneturies since I made it . We just started school this week, but I am doing what Gina does. We jot a quick note about people/events/etc. that we think is important and on Friday, we have a scheduled time to record them in our book. Right now, we're doing a family book since dc are 10, 7, 4, 1.

~Christie

ETA: Remember you don't have to include EVERYTHING! This is a huge reminder to myself as I get bogged down if I try to do that. This book is to be a keen delight, not drudgery.

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
Gem
Member

I tried something new last week for the BOC which turned out nicely. We have been reading Robin Hood, just finished Winnie-the-Pooh, and we watched a movie about Van Gogh and did a Van Gogh style art project, so I wanted to do entries for those topics.

I typed the keyword into google images and found an image I liked, and underneath the image (ormaybe in the sidebar if you click on the image) is a link called "more sizes." This takes you to a page with the same image in all available sizes from big to small - the size is given in the lower right corner of each. I chose a good link for a very small image and printed it for each topic. Then we cut out the tiny picture and glued it on the correct page in the BOC with a handwritten notation.

I don't think it is necessary to have an illustration for every entry, by far, but it is fun to have a few. If you don't have a color printer, or want to save on ink, you can color over your B&W image with colored pencils and they look really good.

We just watched the IMAX movie about the Hubble space telescope and now I want to get that info into the BOC - the start and end of the shuttle program (makes me so sad) and the space telescope. I will be printing images for those things as well. Also I do a half sheet in recent times for family history, so I have some tiny images there - of grandparents and any ancestors we have photos of...

So that is my cheap and easy tip for making colorful images for BOC (or timelines).

Gem

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
MelissaB
Member

Are most of you using the free BOC or the new one that is offered here on SCM that missceegee made?

Melissa

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
MamaSnow
Member

Sooo...those of you with younger ones doing a family BOC - do you do this instead of a wall timeline? In addition to one? I am still very undecided between using a family BOC or a wall timeline with my first grader next year. I love the space saving aspect of the Family BOC...but wonder if the wall timeline offers a better "big picture" view. Those of you who have used a Family BOC, did you find that it helped a younger child grasp a "big picture" view of history?

Thanks for any thoughts...
Jen

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
Gem
Member

I use the free BOC that I downloaded from SCM a couple of years ago. I just printed it out on regular paper and punched it and put it in a binder, no cardstock or sheet protectors or anything like that. It is holding up fine. I have two facing pages with the dates printed at the top, then the next two pages are blank because they are the backs of the printed pages (if you look at an open binder what I am saying makes more sense LOL). So we have 4 pages per century that way. It is in two binders. I sort of put the info from the first half of the century on the left page and the second half of the century on the right page, but I don't get too obsessed about it. On the next two blank sheets I might paste a chart or map or something if it is applicable. Like I have all the US presidents of each century (in a chart I downloaded and printed) pasted in there. But some big thing about a president (say JFK assassination for instance) I might do an entry for on the printed pages.

We just keep a family BOC and to be honest I am the one who adds to it the most. They will add if I ask them to, but rarely want to add something without a suggestion from me.

I don't have room for a timeline, so the BOC is a great solution. I don't know about how much it helps a younger child grasp the big picture view of history - I am pretty satisfied with letting them get to the big picture view on their own schedule, and I am sure it can't hurt to use the BOC. I have enjoyed using timelines in the context of a shorter era of history, like we are using one with our Homeschool in the Woods study on the Industrial Revolution through WWI. It folds up like an accordian and fits in a notebook. What really irritates me (a pet peeve ) is timelines that are not to scale - like one part is an inch and represents a thousand years, and a different part is an inch and represents a hundred years. Our history encyclopedia sometimes does this on its timeline that runs along the top margin. I have seen this in BOC form, too. In recent times there will be one page per decade, not one page per century. I get it - we can enter more events, but this seems to be confusing the whole point of the visual/tactile advantage of a BOC or a timeline. I have not run out of room yet on my century pages, but I might do a seperate binder for decades - like a 20th century binder, for instance, when this happens.

OK sorry that I went on so long about that LOL.

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
JennNC
Member

Christie,

I just want to hijack this thread for a sec and let you know that we just started using your new BOC this week and we *love* it. It is the first one ever that my logical, linear, math-brain high school ds likes. He is finally excited about doing a BOC and I am thrilled! In fact, I like his so much that I think I am going to get one just for myself. :) Many thanks. You and Sonya did a fantastic job!

~Jenn

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
missceegee
Member

@MamaSnow - We tried a wall timeline and it fizzled. I know many love it, but it didn't work for us. I'm hopeful that our new BOC will be of more use, even though we're only doing the family one right now. I know it's helping me tremendously.

@JennNC - Thank you for your kind words. I'm so pleased that my work can be helpful to others. It's nice to hear, too.

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
MamaSnow
Member

Thanks ladies. Maybe we will just do the Family BOC. We are going to be moving a lot over the next couple of years (in one place now, in another for 2012, and yet another by 2013!) so I'm thinking the appeal of having something portable might outweigh trying to figure out how to make a wall-timeline work in each new location...not to mention what to do with all the stuff if the wall timeline has to come down everytime we move as well!

Jen

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post
Mandi
Member

Gem,

How do you save and print the images from google images? I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but I can't figure it out. I like this idea, and think my kids (6 and 4) will respond well to this approach.

Thanks,

Mandi

Posted 1 year ago # Report Post

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