Posts Tagged ‘Generations’
Did you know my two latest books are coming out by May 8! Branching Out: Genealogy Lessons for Adults and Engaging the Next Generation: A Guide for Genealogy Societies and Libraries. In addition, there will be the option to purchase the full 30 lesson set for each age group in one paperback book!
You can now purchase the full 30 lesson sets of 1st-3rd, 4th-8th, and high school on the Kindle.
The titles are also available on the Nook.
1st-3rd Grade Lessons 1-304th-8th Grade Lessons 1-30High School Lessons 1-30
To purchase any of my other books or check out my genealogy tip sheets, visit my Generations products page.
I found a great new blog last week called Climbing My Family Tree. On that blog was a great post you should all read.
Genealogy for Kids: Cemetery Scavenger Hunt
Take a peek. I think you will enjoy it!
If you visited the blog last week you learned about many great PDF resources provided by PBS through their Ancestors series. Today I would like you to download and print a Timeline.
This timeline is great for kids because it outlines every age from birth to age 18 on a sheet about one specific ancestor. At the bottom of the sheet it has a space for listing source documents where you gathered the information. Use this along with the Research Checklist from last week to uncover your ancestral information.
Last week I posted a few great research files from the PBS website. There was another fantastic resource you should know about. It is called the Ancestors How to Select a Record to Search.
This four page document outlines information on record types and where to find information for that type. For example, if you are looking for a birth date of an ancestor, look for sources like cemetery records, military records, town records, and census records. These are just a few of the records listed.
Not only does the sheet outline where to find records but also background information on a place, group or subgroup. Examples include the history of a place or group or record repositories.
The sheet ends with a glossary of genealogical terms. These are all terms every young family historian should learn.
Download the sheet and print it out for your research file. I think you will find it very useful.
Yesterday I posted a great resource called the Research Question file. Here are a few more files from the PBS website you may find helpful when you conduct your research.
Kids! I was on the PBS website this morning and found a great resource for you when you start collecting genealogical information. It is the Research Questions file!
This is a PDF file on which you list your ancestor’s name at the top with the vital information. Then there is a checklist of records for you to search and places to write questions about those records and where to obtain the information.
Download the file and use it when you conduct your interviews or start looking for documents. It is a fantastic resource!
There is a great book called Hidden Sources Family History in Unlikely Places by Laura Szucs Pfeiffer. The point of the book is to briefly describe additional sources of records you might find around the house. Let’s look at a few sources that are not the usual vital records and census documents.
Artifacts
Wooden box brought home from China by Robert Brouk.
Artifacts are memorabilia passed down through the generations. These artifacts usually contain a story and some clues about the ancestor who first owned the artifact.
This artifact was just sent to me from a woman named Ginny. She married my cousin, Robert Brouk. Robert was a Flying Tiger in China 1941-1942. I just wrote a book about his brief life which included his war diary. Robert died three weeks after he and Ginny married. Ginny helped me fill in parts of Robert’s life and after I sent her a copy of his book, she sent me a few artifacts he brought home from China. This wooden box was one. It is an artifact I will treasure always.
Body Transit Records
Did your family have someone who served in World War I, World War II or beyond, and died during his service? 
My great-great-uncle Michael Kokoska served in World War I. He was killed in France. This letter is an example of a body transit record. It tells his father where his remains will be shipped.
This record came in a Burial File. The Burial File tells a lot about the soldier’s service, how he died, where he was buried, and even has letters from family members.
Cemetery Records
Cemetery records may be lying around your home stuck in an old book or box. These records may include plot layouts that tell you who was buried together. These records help identify family members.
Dictionaries and other books
Last weekend I was sorting through some of my artifacts and came across the cover of a dictionary my mom passed to me. Most families write family information inside the cover of a family Bible and list the person’s name, birth date, who they married, and when they died. My grandmother listed these items on the inside cover of a dictionary! Always check the inside of old books before getting rid of them. You never know what you will discover!
If you are a kid, or you are a parent reading this blog, you may have heard of Fancy Nancy. Fancy Nancy is a series of children’s books written by Jane O’Connor. The books are Level 1 Readers, perfect for new readers.
I love Fancy Nancy because she is spectacular and uses big fancy words. After she uses a big fancy word, she will tell you what it means. For example, in the book Fancy Nancy My Family History, Nancy talks about her ancestors and says “All of mine are deceased. That’s fancy for dead.” I also love Fancy Nancy because I have all boys and she is such a girly girl with her cool colorful clothes, sparkly accessories, and fabulous attitude. She is so different from my boys. Sometimes I wish I was more like Fancy Nancy and was sparkly.
In this story, Fancy Nancy has to write a story about one of her ancestors (that’s fancy for family members who lived a long time ago) and then present it to her class. She talks to her grandpa over email about her family and he sends her a picture of his father, her great-grandfather. He tells her about him and Nancy decides to write her story about this man.
The book is short, sweet, and spectacular (that’s a fancy word for great). Check it out if you are looking for a younger kid-friendly book about explaining family history.
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.