Timeline of U.S. History, Albanesi Montessori

History – 9-12

Here it is! We finally received our timeline of U.S. History. Being from France, U.S. history is absolutely not my forte. I feel a bit overwhelmed myself having to connect the pieces of information I have collected during my time in the U.S,

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The children have a solid knowledge of the coming of life, the history of our planet from an evolutionary perspective. This topic is so fascinating to them that it never seems to bore them. Just as Dr. Montessori intended it, they are indeed becoming citizens of the world.

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Therefore, I decided it was time to introduce some local history beyond the classic topics covered in traditional curriculum, which are often simply based on a national holidays, or on an awareness week.

This type of knowledge tends to be decontextualized, and not necessarily processed by young learners. Let’s face it, history is a massive amount of information to digest! To our advantage, the Montessori community offers a much better approach to history using timelines, and people common fundamental needs.

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Today, I am presenting you the U.S. History set from Albanesi Montessori, which uses children prior knowledge, the golden chain, in their timeline. The set comes with:

• an 18ft vinyl timeline (one bead = 1 year)
• 72 colorful laminated cards/descriptions/labels
• 9 colorful laminated control booklets

The set covers the period of time from the first Americans crossing the Bering Sea, to the current presidency. The timeline contains some information on the occurrences B.C.E. and after since the timeline really beginning in the early 1400s.

Here we have, a global vision of what history looks like in the U.S. The cards will sow the seeds for further research. I really wanted to have the children make connections between events, and not just learn them as isolated events. The timeline is not overwhelming, the graphics are appealing, and realistic, and the content is age-appropriate. I hope this post has made you think about the endless research possibilities that U.S. history can arouse with the right materials!

What path have you chosen to provide U.S. history materials to your learners? Please share in the comments!