As family historians, we know the power of learning the stories of our ancestors. We’ve discovered how they overcame losing loved ones, economic struggles, mental and physical challenges, and more. We research from the comfort of our homes with many resources like computers, the internet, and access to records through online databases. What about the homeless, who are simply struggling for survival? Can learning their ancestor stories help them as well? In this guest post, I invite you to read about a non-profit organization that is connecting homeless families with their ancestors. The goal? To strengthen them in their own...
Do you have Eastern European Jewish ancestry? Have you wondered about the historical events that might have affected your ancestors and how to discover their stories? Daniella Weiss Ashkenazy’s new book, Playing Detective with Family Lore: How plugging the holes in a family history unintentionally came to tell the saga of Jews in a microcosm showcases how a journalist set out to discover her family origins. The author provides the reader with informative footnotes on each page, that we as family historians will appreciate. Written in a conversational style, Playing Detective takes the reader on the research journey, and along...
Do you have a forgotten story in your family history? One that might seem unbelievable until some fact checking proves it to be true? We all have ancestors whose story might be begging to be told. Could a family story been silenced due to shame, misunderstanding, negligence? If so we have a challenging task ahead of us to uncover more information and provide the perspective that comes with time. In Bold Spirit: Helga Estby’s Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America by Linda Lawrence Hunt, we have an example of uncovering the story of an incredible feat that was initially silenced by...
Today I’m sharing a guest post for children with some sweet printables for celebrating mother’s day with family history. First, kids can write down their memories of mom. Then moms can write down their memories of the child. What a sweet thing to look back on when children are older. The second printable is a family tree that children can fill out within the PDF file, if they like typing, or print and write on. Hopefully this simple activity is something fun and easy to print and do with your kids despite the chaos of homeschooling and being quarantined. -Nicole...
Shenley Puterbaugh is the founder of the website inspirefamilyhistory.com. I had the pleasure of meeting her at RootsTech! She is sharing a guest blog post today about how to help children have a discovery experience in family history. I bet you’ll get at least one fresh idea to try from her post. Check out her great ideas at inspirefamilyhistory.com as well! About Shenley Shenley was inspired to love family history when her mom told her stories and helped her diagram her family tree when she was a child. Since then, she has spent countless hours researching, interviewing relatives, digging through...
Have you taken a DNA test for the fun of discovering your ethnicity estimate only to be blindsided with an unexpected relationship? If so you are not alone. With more people taking consumer DNA tests, family secrets from long ago and not so long ago are being revealed. How does one deal with a new half sibling or biological parent? These questions and more are addressed in Libby Copeland’s new book, The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who We Are. We’re reading this intriguing book for our spring book club selection. If you’d like to weigh in on the...
Have you taught the children in your life about food rationing? Charlotte’s timely post today is about a food shortage role-play activity she did with her children. I love that she taught about her grandmother’s experience with rationing in Hawaii during WWII and tied that together with today’s chaotic circumstances. I wholeheartedly agree with Charlotte that learning about our ancestors surviving troubled times gives us strength when our lives are upturned. I hope you enjoy this guest blog post. -Nicole Early last Saturday morning, I got in my van alone and braved a rare Washington blizzard to pick up a...
Today I’m sharing a guest post from Charlotte Barnes, author of the new book Turning Little Hearts: Over 90 Activities tot Connect Children with their Ancestors. Charlotte is sharing a fun idea for teaching children about the character traits of ancestors by creating a man out of a paper bag! This easy activity takes minimal time to set up and provides an opportunity to learn about ancestors in an engaging way. To watch a video of Charlotte’s family doing this activity, click here. – Nicole Share Ancestor Character Traits with Kids: A Simple Activity by Charlotte Barnes In a rare, quiet...
Did you attend RootsTech 2020 or watch the live streams? If so then you know that the overarching theme of the conference was “The Story of You.” Besides the excitement of the keynotes, expo hall, and presentations – I was impressed with the small and simple things that make up our stories. Do we get so involved in finding the stories of our ancestors that we forget to record our own? Nicole and I started our RootsTech story in 2016, so this was our 5th time attending this massive conference. Each year has been different depending on our activities. 2016...
Do you need a fun way to engage your small children with family history? Look no further. One of my favorite ways to introduce family history to little kids is with this felt family tree activity. Showing a toddler a family photo album is fun, but it’s even more fun to show them pictures of their ancestors on an interactive felt chart with movable pieces! I have made these for each of my kids and several friends, neighbors, nieces and nephews. They love having a way to talk about family history with little ones while playing. We will have over...
