Archive for November, 2011
Today I have an another activity for you. Let’s break down your family. Write a story about your mom, dad, aunt, uncle, grandma and grandpa that includes the following information:
Their name
Date of birth
Place of birth
How big they were at birth – both in length and weight?
What color are their eyes and hair?
Where did they live when they were born? Who lived with them?
What is your father’s full name? What is his date of birth?
What is your mother’s full name? What is her date of birth?
Name all your aunts and uncles and write down their dates of birth.
Did your family attend church? Which one? Did they have any special roles in the church?
Where did your parents or grandparents go to school? Who were their teachers? What were their favorite subjects?
Have they achieved anything? Won a contest? Received an award for something?
What hobbies do they have?
Did they play any sports?
Who were their best friends? What did they like to do together? Where did they hang out?
Make a timeline of important events in their lives.
Add important historical events to that timeline.
Ask them how much things were when they were growing up.
Save your responses in your notebook. Check back next week for a guide to write about your parents and grandparents.
This is the first in a series of guest posts from my friends around the blogosphere who can offer specialized tips for kids.
Michael Katchen on using 1000memories.com
Have you ever wondered what your parents looked like when they were your age? Wouldn’t it be cool to see photos from your grandparents wedding? That’s what 1000memories is all about. Helping you save those amazing old photos forever and share them with your family.
While all of your photos are probably already on Facebook, it’s only been around for 7 years! The first photograph was produced in 1826 – that means there are tons of photos that haven’t made their way online… yet.
Why is that a problem? Well, paper photos are fragile. They decay over time, they can be destroyed in floods and fires, or lost in moves. Most importantly, there is usually only 1 copy that gets split between family members.
ShoeBox, 1000memories free iPhone app, is changing that. ShoeBox turns your iPhone into a social photo scanner that let’s you quickly digitize old photos, tag the people in them, and share them with your entire family. You can use ShoeBox to help your parents and grandparents save and share their old photos and all the amazing stories behind them forever.
Want to know more about 1000memories.com? Read their About page. You can also follow them on twitter @1000memories and Facebook.
Thank you Michael for your post!
Related articles
- Treasure Chest Thursday – 1000memories.com (kidsgenealogy.generationsofstories.net)
- Creative Writing at 1000memories.com (examiner.com)
- Holiday Time at the Museum of Science and Industry (examiner.com)
Today I have an activity for you. Let’s break down your life, family, and interests. Write a story that includes the following information:
Your name
Date of birth
Place of birth
How big were you at birth – both in length and weight?
What color are your eyes? Your hair?
Where did you live when you were born? Who lived with you?
What is your father’s full name? What is his date of birth?
What is your mother’s full name? What is her date of birth?
Name all your siblings and write down their dates of birth.
Do you go to church? Were you baptized? Who are your godparents?
Where have you gone to school? Who were your teachers? What were your favorite subjects?
Have you achieved anything? Won a contest? Received an award for something? Earned an A in a subject you did not like very much?
What hobbies do you have?
Do you play any sports? Are you on any teams?
Do you have pets? If you do not, what pet would you have?
Who are your best friends? What do you like to do together? Where do you hang out?
Make a timeline of important events in your life.
Add important historical events to that timeline. For example: My oldest son was born January 2001. I would put that in. I would mark his birthdays each year. I would mark the date he started school. I would mark the date he did something important. Then I could go add history – 11 September 2001 was an important day in history. He was only 8 months old but it happened during his lifetime.
Write down how much things cost that you use all the time. This could be gas for your car, how much a loaf of bread is or a gallon of milk. How much did you pay for your computer? What kind of computer did you buy? Those sorts of things.
Where have you gone on vacation? What trips did you like best?
Save your responses in your notebook. Check back next week for a guide to write about your parents and grandparents.
Hey kids! Have you heard of 1000memories.com? This is a free site that helps you share your family history with your family or the world. There are several ways to create privacy within 1000memories.com. You can create a family tree here, upload pictures, videos, stories and more. Just create a free account and get started. Then tell family about it and let them follow you on 1000memories.com to see what new information you have been working on.
So how do you start?
- Get a free account.
- Click “My Shoebox” on the top of the page.
- See the “Share a Memory” box on the page that loads? Choose something there to share. Follow the process to finish.
It is very easy to use 1000memories.com. Want to see what I have started putting out there? Type “Jennifer Holik-Urban” in the search box at the top of the screen and see my Shoebox. I’m just getting started but there will be more added. But do you see how easy it is to share your photos and stories with family?
There are many other features of 1000memories.com but start with the Shoebox and share your memories.
Give it a try. Leave a comment and let me know if you do and what name to look for.
Related articles
- Creative Writing at 1000memories.com (examiner.com)
- Treasure Chest Thursday – Czech Records (chicagofamilyhistory.wordpress.com)
Today I gave two short presentations for my son’s 5th grade teacher. He teaches two groups of sciences classes. Today I talked about starting genealogy research. Their teacher, Mr. Blair, was very excited after the first presentation and wants to start researching his family! I even caught him looking at Ancestry.com while I gave the 2nd (repeated) presentation to the other science class. That is very exciting for me that he is interested.
The kids in both classes had many great questions about filling out their pedigree chart and family group sheet. They talked about family records they had at home, like a family Bible which contained names of the family members with births and deaths going back to the 1830s! That is a treasure! And the best part…..they all seemed very excited about doing the work.
The kids are now supposed to go home and through Thanksgiving break next week talk to family members and write down the information. There will be an assignment given after the break. I was even asked if I would come back and hear the results of the kids’ research. Of course I said yes!
And if any of the kids from the class are reading this blog – make sure you look at the records on Familysearch.org because those are free records.
Thank you Mr. Blair for giving me the opportunity to come speak today! It is exciting to see young people taking an interest in their family histories.
Related articles
- Kids Genealogy: Where To Begin (examiner.com)
- 2012 Conference Tracking Your Ancestors’ Footsteps (dupagecountygenealogicalsociety.wordpress.com)
- Follow Friday – Genealogy Lists and Message Boards (chicagofamilyhistory.wordpress.com)
When you are first starting your genealogy research you will come across many different relationship terms. But what do they all mean? Here is a breakdown.
Siblings: This means two people have parents in common. So brothers and sisters are siblings.
First Cousin: This is your mom or dad’s brother’s (or sister’s) child.
Second Cousin: This is your grandma or grandpa’s child.
Third Cousin: This is your great grandma or great grandpa’s child.
Grandnephew or Grandniece: This means a grandchild of your brother or sister.
Grandaunt or Granduncle: This means a sister or brother of your grandparents.
Lineal relationships: Those people in a “direct” line in your family tree. This can go up (ascending) from you to your parents and grandparents or down (descending) from your great grandparents to your grandparents to your parents to you.
Collateral relationships: Family members linked by a common ancestor in your family tree. This could be a cousin, aunt or uncle.
