Posts Tagged ‘Jennifer Holik-Urban professional Chicago genealogist’
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)
Yesterday I posted a set of questions I gave my son. Below are his answers and my responses.
Why is my family history important to me?
Son: So I can learn how far my family goes back in history.
One interesting thing I learned about my family history is:
Son: My cousin was a Flying Tiger.
If I were interviewing my parents, I would ask these five questions.
1. Did you get expelled? Mom: No. Your father and I were never expelled from school.
2. Favorite food Mom: Chocolate and Home Run Inn pizza.
3. Worst grade Mom: F. I’m fairly certain I flunked out of one college course early on.
4. Favorite teacher Mom: Mrs. Willis my first grade teacher. She was so nice.
5. Best subject Mom: Band and English/Literature. I loved playing my clarinet and I loved to read. I still love to read. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.
Other things I want to know about my family history:
1. How many family members served in a war? Mom: On my side, Michael Kokoska WWI, Frankie Winkler WWII, Robert Brouk WWII, your great uncle John Vietnam. Those are the ones I have confirmed. There were a few other Kokoska men who were stateside during WWI either training or working in the Army. On your father’s side I have not identified anyone who served yet.
2. How many cousins do I have? Mom: Too many to count.
3. What is my oldest living family member? Mom: Currently that would be your great aunt Bea I believe.
4. Was my family rich? Mom: Not that I am aware of.
5. Was my family ever famous? Mom: Robert Brouk could be considered famous as he was one of the Flying Tigers in China between 1941-1942.
Kids, what would your parents answers to these questions be? What other questions do you have? Write them down and start talking. You never know what interesting facts you will uncover.
Related articles
- May I Introduce You at Geneabloggers (chicagofamilyhistory.wordpress.com)
Hey Kids, it is Family History Month!
The month of October has been designated as Family History Month. A month where people are encouraged to start or continue working on their family histories.
Who is in your family tree? Anyone famous? Do you have a connection to a President or King? Do you not have anyone famous in your family? Do you think your non-famous family was boring? If so, why? My family is in no way related to Abraham Lincoln. However, if I examine the life of that family, I may find some similarities to my own.
Every family, famous or not, has an interesting story. You just have to keep talking to your family and digging into records to find it.
With this in mind I decided to post a set of questions I gave my oldest son. If your mom or dad asked you these questions, what would you say?
Why is my family history important to me?
So I can learn how far my family goes back in history.
One interesting thing I learned about my family history is:
My cousin was a Flying Tiger.
If I were interviewing my parents, I would ask these five questions.
1. Did you get expelled?
2. Favorite food
3. Worst grade
4. Favorite teacher
5. Best subject
Other things I want to know about my family history:
1. How many family members served in a war?
2. How many cousins do I have?
3. What is my oldest living family member?
4. Was my family rich?
5. Was my family ever famous?
Check back tomorrow and I’ll answer my son’s questions.
At the FGS 2011 conference in Springfield, Illinois, I purchased several books. One was Teaching Genealogy to Young People by Bee Bartron Koons.
This book is amazing. The front section is a teacher’s manual divided into sections by age/grade level so you know exactly where to start with young people. The lessons are short and to the point and increase in complexity as the child grows. The back section is a large appendix full of charts and forms to use with the lessons.
My local genealogical society is look at ways to encourage the younger generation to be involved in family history research. This book has so many wonderful ideas I think it will be very helpful for this project.
Related articles
- FGS2011 – Will Your Genealogy Sink Or Swim? (generationsbiz.com)
