Bestseller
Who are we?
I am the father of a family located in Denver, Colorado. We have two daughters (9 and 11) that are currently in the 4th and 5th grades. I grew up in Michigan and have lived in seven states since, but we love skiing in the winter and camping in the mountains in the summer, so Denver has been our home for over ten years. Most importantly, I strongly believe that it is critical for children to spend time in nature, which is why we spend a lot of time living out of my truck.
I love STEM, but there are infinite STEM products for kids and very few for history or humanities. I feel that it is essential for children to learn about history--specifically Western Civilization--in order to become productive citizens. When I searched for timelines to teach them, I didn't find anything that I liked, so I created my own.
I figured that other people would also like tools to explore history with their children, so I created this website. You can subscribe and receive the main timeline and receive monthly postcards that delve deeper into specific time periods. The monthly mailings serve as a good reminder to spend a few minutes (or more) digging into history with your kids. The main timeline helps them map everything in their minds.
I also feel that it is good to be analogue first with learning materials--especially when it comes to history. This is why I have a paper timeline and postcards--actual printed materials. When information is limitless, we need it to be curated to help us focus.
I will also post curated documentaries, books and other resources to allow people to learn as much as they want. These can be found on the Main Timeline tab and organized within the specific century link.
I hope to create a community of parents and teachers to share ideas, books, and other resources. I will share contributions on this page and hopefully make the community discussion more dynamic as I grow the website. I will also share comments and musings on this page to keep everyone up to date.
I hope you join us in this learning adventure.
Thank you,
David
Bestseller
What is our vision?
I've never been a fan of rote learning. I always slacked in classes where memorization was the main focus. However, when it came to ideas or problem solving, I was glued and truly engaged. I'm hoping the tools I'm providing will help parents find that engagement with their children.
The point of history is the ideas and thoughts, not the memorization. However, without the knowledge and context of the times, the ideas and thoughts are inaccessible. Knowing a fact from history can seem impressive, but weaving together the context and understanding is what can help people grow and apply knowledge to our time.
One might look at my timeline and think it's about facts and memorization--it's not! The idea is to post it on a wall to make it accessible and more like learning a language naturally.
By receiving postcards in the mail, it's a reminder to take time to focus on a specific time period and gain a deeper understanding. If your child has a keen interest in a specific topic, you can access the documentaries and book recommendations on this site. Our summaries are intended to be guideposts, not comprehensive lessons.
When kids do a report for school, they can map it into the timeline and see how people and events relate. Over time, the random dots start forming a mosaic and deeper understanding.
I also hope to form a community of people that have the same aspirations for their children. Hopefully, people can share tips, book recommendations, or dive in together on shared interests. We'll see where this goes!
Who is our audience?
Our audience are those that are frustrated with the state of education. Those that do not want their children's minds filled with whatever is trendy amongst teachers. Those that want their children to have the tools to think for themselves!
I hope we can attract people that value Western Civilization and want to ensure it continues for generations. This includes parents who send their kids to public school, private school, and homeschoolers. This includes people of faith and secular people that understand the value of Western Civilization and the Judeo-Christian traditions that make our civilization strong and healthy.
Our materials will obviously include religious figures like Augustine and Aquinas. However, our aim is not to have a religious or non-religious focus. There are plenty of great materials for learning the Bible and I do not seek to replace those. My aim is to provide a broad context, which I hope enables learning overall. As I continue to learn, I believe I would've understood more as a kid when I was in Sunday School if I knew why the Romans were in Judea and why some people spoke Greek and Aramaic.
News
Video: Sad but funny
This is another man-on-the-street video showing the ignorance people have of history.
Again, don't let your kids be like this.
Video: Sad but funny
Video: Sad but funny
|David Roberts
