So things are strange at the moment to say the least.
Parents are trying to work full time and teach the kids. So Why not use
technology and family to bring the kids closer to their ancestry. Family has a
wealth of information in it that is vital to our family history. So kids ask
you grandparents etc the questions now and write it down and it can work as a
boredom buster for both young and old.
I really believe that children need to learn about their
ancestors. These days we don’t live close together as families like our
ancestors did and so were may not know as much about our forebears.
I remember as a kid having to ask questions of my Grandpa as
part of a school project. I had a sheet with my questions on and Grandpa wrote
down his answers in my Fraggle Rock note book as I sat with him in his bedroom
and asked the questions.
The answers to the questions I asked Grandpa |
I was trying to decide what the questions were and I think
they must have been:
1. Where did you live growing up?
2. How many rooms were there in your house?
3. How many bedrooms did your house have?
4. Who lived in the house?
5. ?
6. What was used for cleaning the house?
7. How did you do the washing?
8. How was the house heated?
9. What was there in the kitchen?
10. What furniture did you have in your bedroom?
11. What was in the bathroom?
12. What furniture was in the sitting room?
So from here I decided to compile a list of questions
children could ask their parents, grandparents and if their lucky enough great
grandparents (I was lucky I knew both my paternal great grandma’s).
1. What is your full name?
2. When and where were you born?
3. Did you have a nick name?
4. What were your parent’s names?
5. When were your parent’s dates of birth?
6. Where were your parents born?
7. What were your siblings called and when and where were
they born?
8. Where did you live?
9. Where did you go to school?
10. What was you highest qualification?
11. Who did you marry?
12. Where did you meet your spouse?
13. When did you get married?
14. Who were your bridesmaids and best man?
15. Did you have any children?
16. What did you do for a living?
17. Who were your grandparents?
18. When and where were they born?
19. What were their occupations?
20. Did you know your Great Grandparents?
21. What can you tell me about them?
22. When and where did they die?
23. Where were they buried or cremated?
They could take a list of questions with them to the family
gathering and ask away. Once they’ve got all their answers they could spend the
rest of Christmas writing the story of their ancestors. Or they could have one
of the many blank ancestor forms from the Internet download and printed and
then file them in. There is a great selection at: https://www.cyndislist.com/free-stuff/printable-charts-and-forms/
They could also have a blank family tree printed out and
filed in or even better make one. All you need to do is draw a tree and place
small printed out photos of your ancestors and stick them on. Then write their
names underneath. Alternatively use one of the many blank family trees which
can be printed out that don’t have photos on.
An example of the blank trees available |
Who knows what impact going through this process may have on
the kids. They may develop an interest in genealogy. This may lead to a
lifelong passion for the subject and who knows where they may end up. They may
up being a professional genealogist like me. This could also lead them to a
passion for history in general as a hobby and it’s well know a knowledge of the
past can help in future.
Another quick thought is to make a diary and get the kids to
write all the birth, marriages and deaths of their ancestors in it so they can
wish a happy birthday to them.
So make genealogy a fun thing that may spark a lifelong
passion and if nothing else give the kids a project for a few hours.
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