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Whether you are six wanting to learn more about your family or
you are a grandparent in your sixties wanting to help your
grandchild become interested in their family history, this site has
something for you. Family history is a wonderful way for youngsters
to find out about their family and their heritage. It can bring kids closer together
with their grandparents and other family members. Starting young can
create a lifetime of fun and adventure searching for your family
connections. Let's get started.
Getting started
You start with yourself and your family. An easy way to start
is to use a form called an
Individual Summary Sheet to record your findings. There is space for the
basic information about the person and their family - when
and where they were born, the names of the parents, the names
of the children. There are spaces about when they went to
school, what did they do
for a living, which church did they go to, and a lot of other
stuff.
The next chart to use is called a Family Tree Chart. This
chart shows all your ancestors, you and you brothers and
sisters, your parents and grandparents. Click
here to see
several
Family Tree Charts. Each family may be different - pick a chart
that looks like your family.
Asking Questions
Questions are a way to find answers. By asking the right
questions you can find out a lot about a person and their
family. When you go to Grandma's house, tell her you would like
to ask her some questions. Tell her you are writing a story
about your family and you want her to share her stories. You can
sit in front of the fireplace, out on the porch, in the back
yard, or you can even ask her questions while she is doing other
things. Grandparents like to talk to you about
themselves. Take notes or better yet take a tape recorder and
record the things she tells you. Then you can play it back
whenever you want to recall the special story she told you. You
can do the same with Grandpa.
What's that, you don't know what questions to ask. No
problem. Just ask questions such as: Who were their parents? Who
were their sisters and brothers - your aunts and uncles? Who were
your grandparents? Who were their sisters and brothers? Where did they live? What did they do for a living? When
did my relatives come to this country? Why did they leave their
old country? There are a lot more questions in the booklet,
Family Interviews. You can use it for grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts
and uncles, moms and dads, cousins and siblings, almost anyone.
Writing your family story
As you get answer to your questions, start writing them on
pages in a binder or in computer files. Start with yourself.
Tell your own story about you and your parents. What is it like
living in your house? Who is your best friend? What did you like
to do together? Try to remember each year in school and write
about what you enjoyed and who your classmates were. What
activities and sports did you enjoy? What hobbies did you have at
home? What was your best Christmas present ever? Write about
your memories now, you will forget some things as you get older.
Try to write a little at least twice a week. Pick a time when
you can think about stuff and then write as much as you can. For
example, you could write on Sunday evening about your weekend
activities and on Thursday night about the weeks activities. If
you don't have time to write, just jot down a few key points to
help you remember later.
Then set it aside till the next time.
One time, you can write about yourself. Another time you can
write about your parents, or a brother or sister. Still another
time you can write about your grandmother and grandmother. Later
you can write about your other grandmother and grandmother.
Still later you can write about one of your aunts or uncles.
Keep a separate page for the stories about each of these people.
You can put each married couple onto the same page if you like.
The important thing is that you write down your thoughts,
your ideas and your dreams, and that you write about your family and, most of all, about yourself.
Resources
Family Interviews – a list of questions to ask
when talking with your grandparents or great grandparents, your
aunts and uncles, or anyone else you want to find out about. (a PDF
file)
Family Tree Charts – a variety of special charts
to show your family tree.
Individual Summary Sheet - an easy to use form to record a
variety of information about an individual. (a PDF file)
Family Group Sheet – a handy form to record
all the information about one family. If there are more than
three children
in the family, use the
Family Group Sheet continuation
form for other children. Print as many as you need for your own use.
(PDF files)
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