Keeping a Book of Centuries

First Daughter's Book of Centuries

Each week, I record what the children finished during the week and prepare for the next. I try to read anything anyone is going to narrate to me, if I haven't read it in a previous year. Mainly, I read First Son's readings, with a few for First Daughter. As I read, I keep my Book of Centuries near-by and add to it any events that catch my eye.

The children are asked to add three entries a week. I used to check each day to see what they were adding, but as I expanded the entries in my own book week after week, I realized the process itself and the satisfaction of seeing the centuries fill with events was rewarding. I trust they are beginning to sense the same thing so while I list in on their schedule of lessons, I do not require them to show me what they have entered each day.

There are always lots of questions about Books of Centuries - how to keep them, what's on them, what the pictures should be, what kind of book to purchase or create. I thought I'd just write a little on the basics in an attempt to encourage any Charlotte Mason homeschooling moms out there to begin by keeping their own book. Even as an adult, I can begin to see a richer tapestry of history forming as I make entries of events in multiple countries at the same time.

The children draw many more pictures than I do, as you can see from the above picture. The bottom book is mine, with lots of writing on the date links and only a few small lightly sketched pictures on the right.

Here's a closer look at some of First Son's Book of Centuries artwork. I'm not sure what all of these pictures are, but he knows.

Entries in the Book of Centuries take only a few minutes, but over the years, the book grows to encompass everything a child (or teacher!) has encountered.

There are lots of books available now for those in the homeschooling world who want to keep a Book of Centuries. We have a few different ones ourselves. I would encourage you to look for something sophisticated enough that a child may choose to take it along to college. The idea is to have one book to which a person can add throughout his or her life. This isn't a school book for one year or for a child, but one for a lifetime of learning. For the same reason, I would encourage a hardcover book.

Our Book of Centuries

I planned to use a Book of Centuries starting last fall, but we just never got around to it. With a sudden interest in what things happened first, I decided First Son was ready for us to introduce it. I sat down to put the whole book together.

I started with the Book of Centuries download from Simply Charlotte Mason. I printed it all out and then hole-punched it. If I were doing it again, I would have printed the even-numbered pages and then the odd-numbered pages so I could have punched the holes faster (as you want the pages facing each other in the binder). Alternatively, you could print one side and then put them back in the printer for the even numbers, but I wanted to use the blank backs of the pages for drawings or maps.

I liked the Simply Charlotte Mason pages, but I wanted to cover time before 1400 BC. (I don't want to get into a discussion on evolution here, just wanted to show you want I did. You can read a bit about the official Catholic teaching on creation here, though I know there are great differences even among Catholics.) I did a search online to see if I could find pages ready to print for the time from the creation of earth through 4000 BC without luck. I finally found this page, which gave some examples of how pages might be divided (the secular example breakdown on page 5). Using that as a guide, I made about forty pages to cover the time from 5,000,000 BC to 4000 BC.
Book of Centuries Prehistory

I printed one set and punched holes on the right, then printed a second set and punched holes on the left. I then combined them with the pages facing each other (all the holes lined up) and place them into the binder.

I then wanted some pages to cover the geologic eras before 5,000,000 BC. I used the dates I found here (a site I haven't used for anything else, so don't take this as a recommendation) to create pages for each period from the Hadean Eon through 5,000,000 BC. I just printed one each of these for now because I'm not sure how much we'll use them.
Book of Centuries Geologic Eras

Eventually, I'm going to make a book just for First Son. Right now, I'm thinking we'll start his Book of Centuries binder when he starts third grade, but we'll see how it goes. I'm pleased to be able to try out the book now as a family so we'll have ideas for improvement by the time he is ready for his own. I know we'll make some changes already:

1. Heavier paper, probably card stock. (For now, I used what we had lying around the house.)

2. I liked the idea here to use different colors for different eras.

3. First Son is going to do all the hole-punching (not that it took as long as you might think).

4. I may choose to print on both sides of the paper and use supplement pages (see page eight here) for drawings, maps and narrations.

Now we just have to start filling it in!