Lauren has expressed (very eloquently, I might add!) a great desire to learn more about our family history. In her words, "I want to know where I came from, where I fit in, in this big world". Honestly, this is an area that I don't know a lot about. I know that certain portions of my own family history have been researched, and that David's mother was very into genealogy for a time, but much of my family history is a mystery to me. I am eager to help Lauren with this project, and curious to learn more, but I'm also a bit nervous.
As always when confronting a new project, I dive in to a search for resources ;) Our local public library will be a huge resource to us, I think, as will the expertise of our current library director. She knows lots and lots about local history and doing genealogy searches. Another person who will likely be helpful to us is the town historian (he was actually my high school principal...he retired the same year I graduated!) The reason I mention local history is that both David and I grew up here, and the majority of both our families live in this general area...I expect that learning more about our local history will be an important part of this project.
I thought I'd share some other resources we've come across so far...
Are there any resources that would be helpful to us that I am missing?
As always when confronting a new project, I dive in to a search for resources ;) Our local public library will be a huge resource to us, I think, as will the expertise of our current library director. She knows lots and lots about local history and doing genealogy searches. Another person who will likely be helpful to us is the town historian (he was actually my high school principal...he retired the same year I graduated!) The reason I mention local history is that both David and I grew up here, and the majority of both our families live in this general area...I expect that learning more about our local history will be an important part of this project.
I thought I'd share some other resources we've come across so far...
- My Backyard History Book by David Weitzman, which we borrowed from the library. This book is all about discovering your own personal history, and the history of your town. I have gone through this book and made notes of the activities that I thought might be particularly helpful or interesting to Lauren (she asked me to do that...the book is actually designed so kids could work through it themselves, but she was a bit overwhelmed looking at it on her own).
- The website Family Tree Kids!, a part of Family Tree Magazine online that is especially for kids to use. The site has lots of forms available that you can download for free to help you organize genealogy information. They also have activities and getting started information targeted towards kids.
- Genealogy information abounds on the internet, and I was specifically looking for sites that were geared for the younger crowd...but I did find that FamilySearch.org seems promising, even thought it is not specifically made for kids. It has free family searches and genealogy records, plus the site has information to help you learn about doing genealogy research.
- I did find a few other sites that are made for kids, and I started a genealogy for kids Pinterest board to collect online resources I discover.
Are there any resources that would be helpful to us that I am missing?
Do you have a favorite resource this week?
If you're looking for some other good resources, check our Favorite Resources page, our Kid-Friendly Sites page, and my Pinterest boards.
Don't forget to check out the posts linked up here last week!
Favorite Resource This Week is a weekly link-up hosted here on this blog. We homeschool families have so many wonderful resources that we discover and use every week...it's helpful to link up and share our favorites! Resources of any type are fair game: books, videos/DVDs, websites, favorite television programs, computer games, field trip ideas, ideas for using old materials in a different way...anything that has worked well for your family. Feel free to use a post you've already written that's applicable and link it up! If you don't have a post, it's fine to just leave a comment...and remember to check back and see what others are sharing!
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OH, we started tracing our genealogy last year, but I never researched information for the children to get involved. Thank you for this!!! Bookmarking!
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome, Rebecca...glad to help :)
DeleteKatie did a course on Primary Source research. It was a fantastic course that took us to grave yards where we found a relative. She interviewed older people to see how life was different then...I can't remember all the fine, fun things she did, but it was fantastic and taught her so much. I am going to have to do something like this for my boys.
ReplyDeletePhyllis, that sounds like an incredible course! Was it an official class she took somewhere? I wonder if I could find something like that...
DeleteYou really need to check out Ancestory.com. It's expensive at about $25 per month or $12 for six months in a row, but you can get a two week free trial. I used it for hours every day for about two weeks and got pretty far on my dad's side (traced back to Germany in the 1500s). You'll get a ton of info there.
ReplyDeleteI will check it out Chris...thank you!!
DeleteHeritage School really sparked an interest in family history for my girls. After learning so much about local history, they really wanted to find out more about their personal history. One thing that has really helped us is to get the word about our interest out to our families. Many of them have already done a little research on the family tree. At any rate, it's a starting point for us. And listening to the older people in our family as they share stories and memories is pretty awesome:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the resources!
Yes, I do need to get the word out to a few family members to start collecting information...my grandmother will be a help, I know that, and David plans to go through his Mom's things and see what she had saved related to family history (she passed away more than a year ago).
DeleteOur library has a lot of genealogy resources too, I think it might even have occasional genealogy classes. I remember one of my great-aunts did a lot of research into our family tree and it was the coolest thing ever (including a scary murder) to a 5th grader.
ReplyDeleteIs it okay I linked up my giveaway? I included a link back, but didn't want to overstep......
Ticia, sure...that's fine. Heritage History is such an awesome resource!
ReplyDeleteI know, I've ordered two more CDs as a present for a friend, and will probably order the same ones I got her for myself.
DeleteA library near us is doing a free Genealogy Class and we were thinking of taking it. Keilee asks me questions all the time that I can't answer. I am bookmarking these great resources. Thank you for doing this link!
ReplyDeleteKaren, I did some thinking about it today, and I *might* be able to manage to put together some sort of class for local homeschool families at our library with the help of the town historian. Now, I just have to get him on board...
DeleteI hope the resources are helpful!