Announcing the theme for our June “Family History for Children” blog link up: fun family history ideas for Father’s Day. What stories from our family’s past can help our sons become better fathers? What exemplary fathers do you have in your family tree whose stories can help your kids? Our purpose is to strengthen children with stories from the past by creating a fun project. Hopefully families and can use our projects to celebrate father’s...
I wish the MyFamily History Youth Camp had been around when I was a teenager. I would have LOVED it! The camp is in conjunction with the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy and when I was there last year, I saw that there was a youth camp going on at the same time. My curiosity was piqued! The youth camp is July 24-28 this summer and it’s a one of a kind experience. I’ll be...
Mothers who actively choose to remember important experiences and stories from the past and share these memories with their children have great power to shape their children’s emotional well-being. In a 2003 General Conference talk, Susan W. Tanner told about a little journal she wrote for her 17-year-old daughter. Almost three years ago, one of our daughters got married and immediately left with her husband for medical school in a distant city. She was leaving...
Do you know a memory keeper? The person in the family who captures a moment in time with a photo or video, sharing and displaying, collecting and keeping? I have the good fortune to be the daughter of a memory keeper. As long as I can remember, my mother, Anna Mae Kelsey, had a camera in her hand, snapping photos of birthday parties, family vacations, babies. Those photos went into picture frames and albums. Her simple...
Would you like to multiply your genealogy research and preservation efforts? As a parent, do you need tips in bringing out the best in your children? Could you improve your interactions with colleagues? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ll want to discover the world of multipliers and diminishers and how it relates to family history work. Liz Wiseman, researcher, executive adviser, and author set out to discover why some leaders in the business...
For our Kid’s Book club this month, we are reading The Wall by Eve Bunting. As a history teacher, I loved talking with my students about the origination and history behind the holidays we celebrate. Although for many of us, Memorial Day is just a day off and a time for vacationing, it can be a valuable tool for teaching children to honor and remember those who died in our country’s service. I’m still planning exactly how...
I’ve always wanted to volunteer at the Tucson Family History Center near where I live. After giving a presentation at their Family History Fair in February (Kid Genealogists, a presentation I also gave at RootsTech with Emily Schroeder and Melissa Finlay), I got to talking with one of the directors about possibly starting a children’s family history group. I thought about it the whole way home and realized that I had plenty of lesson ideas...
Sometimes a gem of story can be discovered from clues in our family histories. My parents recorded my grandfather telling his life history in the 1970’s. After relating the basic facts of his life story, Grandpa began to loosen up and with his memory jogged, he started to tell some of the most memorable events of the early years. His tale of the snake and my dad’s bluetick coonhound should have been one I recognized,...
Happy DNA Day! Below are 15 activities to teach kids about DNA, genetics, and heredity. Each of these ideas are free and have worksheets, printables, or easy lesson/activity ideas that can generally be done in a day. If you want to do some advance planning and have your kids take a DNA test, there are so many fun things you can do with the results. One of my favorites is the grandchild report from gene...
Mothers are at the heart of family. Researcher Marshall Duke found that family stories are primarily transferred by mothers and grandmothers and that these stories give children personal strength and moral guidance. Mothers are often the memory keepers of the family. We honor our mothers and their influence in society each Mother’s Day (May 14, 2017 in the United States). Let’s celebrate them by remembering the advice, memories, and stories they passed on to us,...
