How do I get my kids interested in genealogy?

How to Interest Kids in Genealogy #familyhistory #FHForChildren #FamilyHistoryFanatics


Do you ever wish your kids were more interested in family history? Do you think, they'll probably enjoy learning about some of the intriguing and fascinating ancestors more than 'boring farmer'? Do your children not show an active interest in genealogy?


I feel strongly that:

Increase children's interest in Family History #FamilyHistoryFanatics #FHForChildren


Think of the music that your parents shared with you from their growing up years. I know almost all the songs from musicals (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Singing in the Rain, and South Pacific) thanks to my mother. I also am familiar with the music of Elvis, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, and The Blood, Sweat, and Tears thanks to my mother. Why?

I was interested in my mom and therefore interested in her past.

Devon Noel Lee Meets Brutus the Buckeye
I am not an OSU Buckeye Fan, however I was interested in my mother
so I learned a lot about the Buckeyes. (Still not a fan, but I can appreciate Brutus).
So, step one - get your children interested in you and your past. If you're a grandparent,  get your grandchildren interested in you. Get them interested in you, and they'll be interested in your history.

Is that all?

Heck no. There also great tools to play with genealogy and then do different aspects of genealogy and I'll refer you to the following YouTube videos to learn more:



If you have small children that you can use them
 Little Family Tree app conjunction with a 
tree on FamilySearch



Play games together. This video features two 
games that my family enjoy that gets us 
talking about family and each other. 



If your kids are studying history, geography or 
social studies, incorporate genealogy! But don't 
take it from me, listen to Caleb - the Teen Fanatic


Ultimately, you have to know what motivates
our children and then use that to grow their interest. 


Remember, tree climbing isn't the only part of family history. They might have an interest in another aspect of family history work but you're the one who is overlooking that interest.

If you want to expand your idea of family history and see if you can find which parts your kids enjoy, get our book Reimagine Family History to expand your scope and see if the kids want to take over one aspect of the greater genealogy work.


In the end, you have to plant seeds before you can start digging together.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Surname Tables for DNA Research

Image
Researching your family tree using DNA can be complicated when you haven't created a surname table as a cheat sheet for referencing your data. Andy talks about these regularly in beginner DNA classes but I hadn't created one until today! And you're about to see my jealousy rear its beastly head. Before we begin, take a look at Andy's Surname Table: Look at the five spots that are holes in the 4th GGP section. That's not bad. The holes beside the Garnett in 3rd GGP only indicates that the Lees aren't really Lees and from that point on the surname line changes. Are you ready to see my chart? I'm really sad. Before you think I'm a terrible Genealogist, each missing surname comes with a challenge. The Anderson/Sparks is pretty 'righteous' (bad holey/holy pun) because Anderson and Sparks disappear from records after they have a child. There's only one record for William Anderson, of Sweden, in Missouri and nothing else. Oh, yea!  After that, the w...
Read more

When Do You Post a Second Photo on Find A Grave?

Image
Many people have varying degrees of photography skills. Some are point and shoot photographers. Others are very skilled. In the age when we're able to take photos of gravestones, the question arises, when should we post a second photo on a Find A Grave profile (or other websites)? When I go to a cemetery I attempt to follow a few rules: Make it Tidy Get Close Capture the Lot When I do that, I generally have good results when capturing a gravestone. I may be an amateur photographer, but I can capture fairly decent photographs that do more than just document the stone, but feature and highlight it. Stephen P. Mayer Dec. 16, 1857 - Oct. 23, 1922 Adaline Mayer 1861 - Jun. 30, 1932 Once in a while, I come across a memorial on  FindAGrave.com for which I have taken a photo, like the one above, with a decent photo already published. My approach in cemetery photography is this: Go to a plot that you know a few photos need to be taken and then snap pictures of the section around the s...
Read more

Best Reason to Share a Proof Copy of Your Family History

Image
Have you written a family history? Are you hesitant to print it for fear there are mistakes from the grammatical to the historically accurate? Why not publish a proof copy and share with a few family members? You'll soon learn the best reason to share a proof copy, is feedback. My goal in 2017 was to finish the final draft of the book about my grandpa Lewis Brown. I've shared stories about him on this blog before, and I use his story often when I teach how to write family histories. However, Lewis' story needed to leave my computer and reside on my bookshelf so my children will know about this beloved great grandpa. To edit my drafts, I had used  Grammarly.com  to catch most of the glaring mistakes. Several errors might still slip through, but the book wouldn't be excruciating to read due to the obvious spelling and grammatical errors. I cited all of my sources, but I still need to establish a consistent style. There is the genealogical standard, but there's also ML...
Read more