Building a Personal Timeline: Baby to First Grade: First Grade Social
A timeline is a visual tool that arranges important life events in chronological order from earliest to latest along a straight line.
What Is Chronological Order?
The word "chronological" comes from an ancient Greek word meaning time. Chronological order simply means putting events in the exact sequence in which they happened, starting with what occurred first, followed by what happened next, and ending with what happened most recently.
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER |
| |
| [ 1st: Woke up ] ---> [ 2nd: Ate breakfast ] ---> [ 3rd: Rode bus ]
| Earliest Latest |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Why Timelines Help Us Learn
When you tell a story, jumping back and forth between different years can confuse the listener. A timeline lays events out along a straight horizontal or vertical line, like stepping stones across a creek. By looking at a timeline, you can see how one milestone led to the next milestone over months and years.
Milestones of Human Growth
A milestone is an important event or achievement that marks a major stage in a person's life or history. Every child passes through significant milestones on their journey from an infant to a first grader.
GROWTH MILESTONES
Age 0: Born as an infant; drinks milk; sleeps in crib
Age 1: Learns to take first wobbly walking steps
Age 2: Speaks first words and short sentences
Age 3: Learns to run, jump, and stack tall block towers
Age 4: Attends preschool; paints pictures; makes friends
Age 5: Starts kindergarten; learns letter sounds and numbers
Age 6: Enters first grade; reads chapter books; writes stories
Birth and Infancy (Age 0 to 1)
When you were born, you were an infant. You had no teeth, your hair was soft and fine, and you could not hold your own head up without adult support. Over your first twelve months, you learned to roll over, sit up on the rug, crawl on your hands and knees, and speak your very first word, such as "mama" or "dada."
Toddler Adventures (Ages 1 to 3)
Between your first and third birthdays, you transformed into an active toddler. You took your first independent steps, learned to feed yourself with a spoon, and began talking in complete phrases. You celebrated birthdays with candles and developed favorite toys.
Preschool and Kindergarten (Ages 4 to 5)
As a preschooler and kindergartener, your world expanded. You learned to hold safety scissors, write the alphabet letters, count to one hundred, and ride a tricycle or bicycle with training wheels. You practiced sharing toys and singing songs with classmates.
+-------+--------------------+--------------------------------+
| AGE | MILESTONE EVENT | WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT |
+-------+--------------------+--------------------------------+
| Age 0 | Born into family | The beginning of your story |
| Age 1 | First steps walked | You learned to move on your own|
| Age 3 | Spoke in sentences | You could share thoughts clearly|
| Age 5 | Kindergarten start | You joined a big school community|
| Age 6 | First grade start | You read books and write tales |
+-------+--------------------+--------------------------------+
How to Build Your Personal Timeline
Creating your own timeline is like writing your personal autobiography in pictures and dates.
SAMPLE FIRST GRADER PERSONAL TIMELINE
2020 2021 2023 2025 2026
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
| | | | |
Born in Took first Began attending Started Entered First
Hospital steps Preschool Kindergarten Grade!
Step 1: Gather Information and Artifacts
To build your timeline, talk with family members. Ask questions like: "In what year and city was I born?" "When did I take my first steps?" "What was my favorite stuffed animal when I was two?" Look through family photo albums and baby books to find pictures and dates.
Step 2: Draw the Line and Mark the Dates
Draw a long, straight horizontal line across a sheet of paper. On the far left end, mark the year you were born. On the far right end, mark the current year. Space the intermediate years evenly between them using equal tick marks.
SPACING TIMELINE TICKS
[Far Left] [Far Right]
Year 0 -------- Year 1 -------- Year 2 -------- Year 3 -------- Year 6
Earliest Most Recent
Step 3: Add Milestones and Illustrations
Under each year's tick mark, write a brief caption describing your milestone. Above the line, draw a picture or glue a small photograph illustrating that event: a baby bottle for infancy, tiny shoes for your first steps, and a backpack for your first day of school.
Exercises and Review
Exercise 1: What is a timeline, and in what order are events arranged on it?
Exercise 1 Solution: A timeline is a graphic diagram that displays events along a line. Events are arranged in chronological order, meaning they are listed in the exact sequence in which they happened in time, starting with the earliest event on the left and ending with the most recent event on the right.
Exercise 2: List three common milestones that occur between the time a child is born and the time they start first grade.
Exercise 2 Solution: Three common milestones are learning to take first walking steps around age one, learning to speak in complete sentences around age two or three, and starting kindergarten around age five.