Chris
Rice Cooper
Guest
Blogger Suzie Kolber
Why
Using A Family Tree Can Help Your Kid In School
*Suzie
Kolber created the family tree blank charts for “do it yourself” genealogy
projects which are available for FREE on the NON-PROFIT
Family trees are fun for anyone
who wants to learn about their family heritage. However, kids can benefit from
them as well even if they aren’t interested in family history yet. Depending on
the child’s age and the purpose of the family tree, it can benefit them in
three different ways in school.
1. It Makes History Come to Life
If they are learning about
World War I or the Vietnam War in school, it will be much easier to learn the
facts if they can associate it with a real person. A great-grandparent or uncle
may have served in one of those wars, which will make the information they
learn in school a lot more real.
Find out what era they are
studying, and make an effort to find out how your family is connected. The
further back you have to go, the more difficult but it is possible to find
family members from a century ago. Even if all you have is vague information
such as your family originated in Ireland, it will make that country more
memorable in world history.
2. It Teaches Kids How to Research
Research is one task your kids
will have throughout their school years. Many times, it will be on subjects
they consider boring and irrelevant. Make research more interesting by having
them help you find out about your ancestors. Teach them how to use the Internet
and other resources such as the microfiche film at the public library. Show
them how to find information from the country records.
As they use these unique
resources, it will make research more interesting. Instead of being a required
project, it will be more like solving a mystery. As you add names to your
family tree, they will feel a sense of pride in accomplishing a complicated
task.
3. It Teaches Kids How to Organize Information
It can be overwhelming to do a
research project and then try to put it all together in a way that makes sense.
It may be even more challenging if your child is a visual learner. A family
tree is a great way to teach a child how to organize information in a way that
makes sense and allows the facts to be relevant.
As your child fills in names
and other information on the various people in your ancestry, they will learn
how to develop associations. They will also understand how to format information
so that it makes sense. Since there are so many different kinds of family
trees, they can put as much or as little information as they want. With some,
it may simply be a name on a tree. For others, they may include birth and death
dates, marriage dates and a lot more.
A family tree project can
provide an exciting way to help your child learn in school. It teaches them
skills they will use throughout their lives, and it does it in a fun way.
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