It will be two years ago Monday that I started my Family History Blog. It is amazing how far I have come and what I have accomplished. I started only as an outlet to share my ancestor’s findings with my family. It has grown to be so much more.
It has not only helped me be a better researcher and storyteller, but it has also given me so much more insight into my ancestors, who they were, and who I am.
In October, I started a Family History Detectives Club at my school for 4th graders. I am very excited. I bought these little detective hats, magnifying glasses, and detective badges. After we do the boring stuff of going over #Genealogy vocabulary words and learning what a pedigree chart is, I will have them pick an ancestor to investigate.
When I was researching genealogy or family history for children, there wasn’t much there as far as teaching them. There were many activities and fun worksheets, but nothing taught them how to start researching or how to start investigating their family history. Nothing about sources or how to read them.
That gave me an idea. After seeing the excitement in the children’s eyes about the club and not finding much help on the internet, I knew there was a need. So, I created an online Google Classroom course and am checking into giving courses at my local library. They had genealogy courses on their calendar but for teens and seniors. Nothing for children.
You may not think children are interested, but I promise you they are. Just today I had an 8th grader bring me his surname family history book. This thing was huge. His ancestors had published his family tree and bound it into this beautiful book. He heard I was doing the club and wanted to share with me that he had an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower.
As I was perusing the book, I looked up this ancestor in the index of names. Just for kicks, I looked up Logan. Sure enough, there were several. Then one familiar Logan popped out at me. He was MY 1st cousin, 6x removed! This student and I are related. When I found the discovery, his mom was in the office, and he came in shortly after. He was blown away, as were all of us.
It just goes to show we are all related. The tree is a small world, after all.
If you want your child to join my virtual Google classroom event, Roots to Trees, go to my Genealogy Classes and register.
Thanks for reading!
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