Many
genealogists I know are starting to think about how they can interest and
involve younger members of their family in their activities. Most societies are
wondering where their future members will come from to continue their programs.
Is that because we are all getting older and are worried about what will happen
to all those years of work and the tons of information we have collected?
Whatever
the reason, it’s not a bad idea to engage young family members in the pursuit
of knowledge about their ancestors. They might learn something about themselves
as well as about their history.
As
the Editor of Relatively Speaking, the quarterly journal of the Alberta
Genealogical Society, I just helped publish a whole issue dedicated to Youth and Genealogy. We had a variety
of papers about how to get children started, what benefits there are to introducing
them to genealogy and an outline of a new program initiated by our Society.
There were even stories written by children themselves about their own
backgrounds. The contributions were both interesting and informative. A list of
the feature articles is at the bottom of this post.
In
the process of sourcing and assembling material I learned quite a bit about
what is out there for parents, teachers and others who want to show children
what they do and how they do it, with respect to family history. Three
genealogical societies in Canada now have programs on their websites that are
helpful:
·
Alberta
Genealogical Society
– http://www.abgenealogy.ca/genealogy-for-youth The AGS
Genealogical Project for Children and Youth. The first resource within this
project (intended for children aged 6 to 9 years of age) has just been released
on-line. Enjoy exploring!
·
Ontario
Genealogical Socitey
– https://www.ogs.on.ca/lessonplans.php The OGS Family History Lesson Plans Project for
elementary and secondary students began this past summer with the intention of
connecting OGS with students by providing educational resources to educators.
·
Victoria
Genealogical Society
– http://www.victoriags.org/school/ The VGS Genealogy
in the Classroom webpages
provide lesson plans with resources such as printable genealogy forms and free
online genealogy games.
I
would be interested in hearing about other groups around the world that have
similar genealogical programs for children and youth.
Anyway,
back to the question I posed as the title of this post – perhaps the best way
to get children started in looking at family history is to ask them what they
would like to know.
How
many people have you come across who have told you they wished they had asked
their parents and grandparents about their experiences and personal histories?
Have you muttered that to yourself as well on occasion? Now most of us spend
countless hours and funds trying to find many of the answers that people we knew
and grew up with might have been able to provide.
Don’t
let your descendants make the same mistakes. Go ask your children and
grandchildren what they would like to know about your/their family. They might
surprise you by showing an interest in what you have done and learned and want
to know more. Do it right now!
Here
are the Feature Articles that are in
the latest issue of Relatively Speaking (Volume 43, Number 4, November 2015). Let
me know what other, similar papers are out there and I will help spread the
word on this blog.
·
Sowing Winter
Wheat: Introducing genealogy and family history to children and youth by John
Althouse
John comments on the value of introducing children
to the exciting adventure of family history research and introduces the new AGS
project, Genealogy for Youth, which offers many resources to help teach
children about their current and extended family.
·
Family Adhesive:
The value of family history for children by Janet Hovorka
In this article we are shown how involving children
in family history pursuits actually helps to teach them discipline, foster
self-esteem and create strong relationships within the family.
·
The Search for
Captain Roy Brown by John J. N. Chalmers
John relates his search for information, in
particular the grave site of WWI war hero Roy Brown. At the same time a young
student, Nadine Carter, was also in pursuit of the same information, and
uncovered important facts about Captain Brown. This story is about her
achievements as well.
·
Is Family
History for Children and Youth? by Helen Gwilliam
Helen offers commentary and advice in having
children participate in genealogical activities in which they can gain
experiences and practice valuable skills that will help them in the future.
·
Mystery by Anne
Baines
Anne’s grandson was invited to help research an
ancestor and ended up finding new information that helped answer questions
about the relationship between two branches of their family.
·
Immigrants to
Canada: A family history project in Grade 5 Social Studies by Marion Rex
Marion introduces several student authors who put
together stories of their own families for a Grade 5 class project. Their
contributions are as follows:
o
Our
Acker Family’s Journey to Canada by Colin Acker and Allison Martens
o
Escape
From Czechoslovakia: The Bouz Journey by Leah Kinahan and John Bouz
o
Isley
Family Descendants by Andrew Kennedy
·
Let Them
Contribute: How today’s youth are engaging in the genealogy space by Amanda
Terry and Devin Ashby
Amanda and Devin describe many programs and
activities available to children and youth that help them learn about
genealogical research. They also offer advice to parents and others about
directly involving young people in genealogy.
Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in England, handling four
parishes in Devon, England. He has published a
number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is the Editor of Relatively Speaking, the
quarterly journal of the Alberta Genealogical Society. Wayne also provides
genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.
