Archive for the ‘Getting Started’ Category
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)
Let’s go back to the family tree chart and family group sheets you completed earlier this week. Based on your interviews with your parents, can you fill in any more information? Do you have more questions you want to ask?
Look at the information you have collected and what you want next and keep moving forward with your research.
Now that your family tree or pedigree chart is complete, the next step is the family group sheet. You can download and print that here.
To fill in this sheet, put the names of your parents at the top in the appropriate spaces. Fill in as much of their information as possible.
Below them is a space for children. Add you and your siblings, if you have siblings, to this bottom portion. List the children in birth order.
When this sheet is complete, you can print more sheets and work backwards. The next sheet should be your dad’s parents and list him as one of the children with his siblings. The following sheet should be your mom’s parents and list her as one of the children. Continue working backwards filling in as much information as you can find.
Start with what you know. Download and print the Pedigree or Ancestral Chart from Ancestry.com. The chart starts with one person and works backwards to that person’s parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on.
This chart is unnumbered so we need to number it. The person on the far left of the page is number 1. This is you. Above and to your right is your father, number 2. Below your father is your mother, number 3. Return to the top of the page and continue numbering down the page starting with number 4. This is your grandfather and below him, number 5 is your grandmother. Men are even numbers, women are odd numbers.
Starting with person number one to the far left of the page we will enter as much information as possible. Write your name here. Write down your birth date and place.
Next, go to person number 2, which is your father. Enter as much information as you can from his full name to the dates and places of birth, marriage and death. Then go on to number three which is your mother. List that information. Then go to Person 4, who is your grandfather. Continue filling in as much of the chart as possible.
Congratulations!! You have just started your family tree!
Looking for a more fun way to create a family tree? Purchase my Ebook Family Tree Projects for Kids at my store. The Ebook is $3.99 and contains two hands-on projects. In the first project kids will create a poster board-sized family tree with pictures. The second project features a more standard family tree that kids can create. This version contains photos to guide kids through the process.