The first step is to create your own path of 33 or 45 (or more as we get more presidents) “stops” (distinct locations) for the number of periods of World History or number of U.S. presidents. Use a place that is familiar to you which you already know well, such as your current or old home, a relative’s or friend’s home, your (current or old) neighborhood, (current or old) school, your religious home, a shopping mall, or some combination of these. If you choose, you can create three shorter journeys of 16 + 16 + 13 or more steps, each using different familiar places, such as school, home, and neighborhood; however, I recommend not using any more than three and preferably just one. The important thing is that you need to pretty much already know your way around the place(s) you choose.
In general you want to go in a circle so that you can use each room in the building. You also want to end up by a door so that you can easily transition outside and continue your journey. So if there are two floors, start upstairs. Only use the basement if there is a door to the outside; or start in the basement and move to the main floor and then outside.
Each of the 33 or 45 “stops“ (or stations) needs to be distinct, but not necessarily too large or too far apart. In general, each stop should be one room with four corners for 4 – 5 distinct events to be imagined. A walk-in closet will work, but a small closet may not. Similarly, a large bathroom will work, but a small one may need to be combined with a hall or linen closet. If a room is large though, like a gym for example, then you can create two stops: one on the playing floor and another on the bleachers. Just make sure each stop looks and feels separate and unique and has enough room to mentally picture several things happening at once.
Below are three examples of journeys with 45 stops for U.S. History, followed by a blank journey to fill in. Then there are two sample journeys for World History with 33 stops each, followed by a blank journey. I recommend printing a blank one out and filling it in with a pencil until you get all the stops worked out. Once you are done, the journey you create can be used by a whole group throughout the entire program. The process of creating a journey might take about 30 minutes to figure out, but the time spent is well worth it because it makes learning the events or presidents in order very easy.
Below are two sample journeys for World History, followed by a blank journey.
When you have planned your Journey, go to: Step 2: Learning Order
