Blog – Page 102 – Family Locket

8th Grade Family History Project: My Story in American History

I interviewed Chris Voutsas, an outstanding junior high history teacher, about the family history project he assigns his 8th graders each year, called “My Story in American History.” After our correspondence, I attended the school’s academic showcase open house which featured the family history projects. I was wowed by the outstanding work each student shared. Let’s hear from Chris about why he does what he does. Be sure to check out the video of the students […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer April 12, 2017 Family History is for Everyone Spotlights

Youth Family History Certification: “Project My Story: Past and Present”

Need something new and fresh to invigorate your youth family history program? Check out “Project My Story: Past and Present.” This certification program gives young people the chance to learn and check off family history skills as they go. They start with themselves, recording information about their lives, then discover and preserve memories of their ancestors, finding names for the temple as they go. Why certify youth? In our LDS ward, we’ve held many classes […]

By Diana Elder April 10, 2017 LDS Family History, Youth and Primary

Principles of Peace Family and Ancestor Booklet

I love making little books, and that has rubbed off on my children. My six-year-old is into Harry Potter so our last book-making project was a spell book. As I have prepared for Easter and followed along with the Mormon.org campaign #PrinceofPeace, I have seen many lovely ideas for incorporating the principles of peace into our Easter celebrations. I was delighted to see a little booklet created by Emilie Ahern at AYearofFHE.net – Prince Of Peace […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer April 6, 2017 LDS Family History, Youth and Primary

“The One and Only Me” – Family traits book & lesson ideas

Last week I taught a cub scouts group (ages 8-9) about genealogy. I wanted to connect with their interests, so I decided to talk about science. I brought this book with me: The One and Only Me: A Book About Genes by Ariana Killoran, a 23andMe Book. Preschool – Grade 3 (ages 4-8). It’s a fantastic introduction to inheritance and variation of traits for children. Poppy has red hair, freckles, blue eyes, and likes making pizza. […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer April 5, 2017 Families and Children, Kids Book Club

Writing A Family History Novel: “Sarah’s Secret: A Western Tale of Betrayal and Forgiveness – April Book Club Selection

Have you ever discovered a family secret and thought, “this would make a great novel?” Beverly Scott did and the result is her first work of fiction: Sarah’s Secret: A Western Tale of Betrayal and Forgiveness. As an avid reader and a family historian, I am always on the lookout for interesting books based on family stories so we’re featuring Sarah’s Secret as our May book club selection. If you’re ready to step back in time to 1911, […]

By Diana Elder April 3, 2017 Book Club, Creating and Sharing Family History

Favorite Reads of the Month – March 2017

There is a plethora of online genealogy content – I wish I could read all of it. I am pleased to share a sampling of what I’ve read and found useful this month – I know I miss a lot of wonderful articles and wish I could read them all. Please let me know if you have a unique article that I can feature next month. DNA AncestryDNA’s Genetic Communities are Finally Here! by Blaine Bettinger at […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer March 31, 2017 Favorite Reads of the Month

Tips for Busy Parents – April Blog Link Up

Parenting is busy. Taking care of children wonderful and exhausting at the same time. How can parents who are already feeling overwhelmed with work, volunteering, homework, play dates, sports, laundry, and meals find time to share family history with their children? In last month’s link up, 15 moms and 1 dad told why telling kids about their heritage important, and this month we’re giving tips for how to actually learn about your family history. As you start […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer March 30, 2017 Families and Children

Following the Prince of Peace to Higher Ground

The Easter initiative hosted at Mormon.org this year is #PrinceofPeace – following the Savior helps us find peace. I wanted to create something for this initiative that would reflect the peace that comes from temples and being sealed together as families. I found a talk by Elder Quentin L. Cook that beautifully illustrates how families can find peace as they follow Christ to to higher ground: We Follow Jesus Christ, Quentin L. Cook, April 2010 General Conference. Following the […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer March 29, 2017 LDS Family History, Youth and Primary

How Sacrifice, Angels, and Miracles Help With Family History

What do sacrifice, angels, miracles, and family history have in common? Turns out a lot, as evidenced from experiences shared at Family Discovery Day as part of RootsTech 2017. I am always interested in hearing how family history touches the heart of a person. We all come to genealogy and family history with preconceived notions and when all of those fall away and we’re left with just feelings of connection to our ancestors, something miraculous […]

By Diana Elder March 29, 2017 LDS Family History

How to Find Your Ancestors in Early Relief Society Records

How can you find out if your female ancestors helped build the early Relief Society organization? I happened upon this FamilySearch campaign and it really changed my view of Relief Society and womanhood in general. Learning about my early Relief Society ancestors helped me with many of my own concerns about being a woman in today’s society. Read about that here: What I learned about feminism from my remarkable Relief Society ancestors. Step 1: FamilySearch […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer March 26, 2017 LDS Family History