Anything that happened before your child’s birth is “history” to them. Do you tell them the story of how you and your spouse met? The story of their own birth? Those times in college when you wanted to quit? The time you were the last to get picked for a team? The time when grandma gave food to strangers stranded in a snow storm? The time when great grandpa rescued fellow sailors when their ship was sunk? And if you do tell your children these stories, why do you do it?
Maybe you like showing your children the headstones in the cemetery belonging to your 3rd great grandparents. Why do you want them to see this?
Some genealogists teach their teens how to add historical records to the FamilySearch collaborative Family Tree. Some researchers create a book of pedigree charts and family group sheets to pass down to their children.
Why?
Here are some of the reasons I feel it’s important to teach family history and genealogy to children, but I think there are even more than this:
-Knowing family history strengthens children by increasing their resilience and self-esteem
-Researching genealogy is a positive hobby that helps children develop critical thinking skills
-Learning personal family history within the historical context helps children connect to history
-Learning genealogical skills enables children to carry on your research
-It’s part of being a member of the LDS church to learn about our ancestors and provide temple ordinances for them (read more)
-Repeating family stories and traditions with children ensures that the traditions are preserved
-Sharing anecdotes from ancestors about values important to your family strengthens family culture
-Discovering and preserving family history together is a unique way to have fun and bond with children
-And more!
Write a blog post and tell why you share family history with children at our first blog link up. Check it out here: Family History for Children Blog Link Up. All the posts will be live by March 21.
Hope you can join us as we influence the community to teach children family history.
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