With the younger set, I really love to begin an introduction of history and the concept of time by telling stories.  We often begin with the stories of our own family.  Little ones LOVE the “when mommy and daddy were little…” stories! We go through family photos of the generations before us and tell their stories too!

A great next step I found over the years is the book First Timeline by Mary Daly. It is the perfect vehicle for a history introduction as well as a wonderful precursor to our History Worth Remembering Timelines.

What I love about this book is the way Mrs. Daly writes to the heart of a child, through the eyes of a Catholic.  She talks about the past as a family of God and the gift of time and those that came before us!  It is very sweet and is discussion oriented.  In fact. I would read aloud each story and pause when there is a question presented, as these are great discussion prompts. I would also use the program at your own pace.  Remember this is just an introduction and as such can be fun and light.

There is an optional 4.5″ by 81″ timeline mural that can to be colored and either fan folded as a booklet or displayed as a mural.   Your child can color as you read the story (or soon afterwards), filling it in as you progress through the stories. The line drawings are basic and the act of coloring them in makes them concrete in the mind of a child, giving them a better understanding of the sequence of time.

As you move through the book, your child will begin to comprehend what we mean by history and will be fascinated by those who came before us wanting to know more! In fact many of the personalities introduced will be studied in future years and they will remember hearing about them from this introduction.  Feel free to look up supporting images and information on the internet too!

Optionally there are 5.5” x 8.5” cards which may be colored and mounted on dividers or you can color the images as you complete the biographies, then shuffle, and practice laying them out in sequence.

Another option would be to use my suggestions for read aloud or picture books!  The list below contains the books we have read and enjoyed as a family as a way to introduce history to our younger kiddos.  Look for these at the local library and then order the favorites as gifts! You will find that these titles also complement the “history stories” from First Timeline.

Feel free to use this list for read aloud time once a week or as a monthly whirlwind tour of time. You will see that they are well suited to the younger set and introduce key events and personalities that matter!

• Turn of the Century (Eleven Centuries of Children and Change) by Ellen Jackson
• The Catholic Bible for Children (Magnificat) – contains many of the Bible figures
• Noah’s Ark by Peter Spier
• Ox, House, Stick: History of Our Alphabet by: Don Robb, Illustrated by: Anne Smith 
• The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky, Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
• Easter by Brian Wildsmith
• Patrick by Tomie De Paola
• Leif the Lucky by D’Aulaire
• Francis Woke Up Early  by Josephine Nobisso  Illustrated by Maureen Hyde
• D’Aulaire’s Christopher Columbus
• William Shakespeare & the Globe (Trophy Picture Books) by Aliki
• The Thanksgiving Story  by Alice Dalgliesh  illustrated by Helen Sewell
• A Picture Book of George Washington (Picture Book Biography) by David A. Adler
• A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln (Picture Book Biography) by David A. Adler

When you have had a taste of the studying history, you will undoubtedly want more!  The next step is to dive right into our History Worth Remembering Time Sets!

Get my FREE Guide to 5 Keys to Open the Doors to Teach Catholic History Multi-ages! 

Please share with me other titles your family has enjoyed in the comments below!

PS- I have not received any compensation for this review, nor are there any affiliate links.