Roots for Kids: A Genealogy Guide for Young People

We generally think that an interest in genealogy starts in middle age or perhaps later. Yet those of us who have spent a lot of time in genealogy libraries and in courthouses almost always can tell you of exceptions. One of the leading professional genealogists I know is now in his late twenties but got started before he was old enough to obtain a driver's license. His mother used to drive him to the libraries and courthouses. He reports that he was interested at an even earlier age but delayed until his early teens simply because he didn't know how to get started when he was younger.

Professional genealogist David Lambert is very proud of another genealogist in his family: his eleven-year-old daughter, Brenda, is an accomplished researcher, capable of doing high-quality research, even when her father isn't around.

I have also given several genealogy presentations to third graders and have been amazed at the enthusiastic responses. I always hand out blank pedigree charts at these classroom sessions and explain the use of the charts. One teacher later told me that several students came back to school the next day with filled-in pedigree charts, even though that was not an assignment.

I was a "late bloomer." I conducted my first genealogy research project at the age of fifteen as an English class writing assignment. I was hooked then although school, military service, and starting a family delayed my family tree research for several more years.

There are many more such examples. Perhaps you had an early interest, even if you delayed that interest until later in life.

Is an interest in one's ancestry really a personal interest that doesn't develop until mid-life? Or have we simply not provided the proper introduction to youngsters? One new book seeks to find out by providing that introduction.

Roots for Kids by Susan Provost Beller seeks to provide the genealogy introduction and foundation for school children. The book is designed as a project in which a child and adult work together. The adult does not need to be a genealogy expert; both can learn at the same time.

The book is designed as a twelve-week lesson plan with one "class" per week. It should work well either in a classroom environment with multiple students or at home in a one-on-one setting. The book seems to be aimed at fourth through six grades (ages 9 through 11) in a teacher/student environment. It could also work well with older students as a self-taught genealogy course with minimal teacher involvement, if any. If this book can become available in every junior high school library, I suspect the number of young genealogists will multiply every year!

As in most genealogy "how to" books, Roots for Kids starts off with an introduction to genealogy. I especially like the idea that the introduction stresses the fact that a family tree is a collection of stories, not a simple collection of names, dates, and places. Quoting from Chapter One: An Introduction to Genealogy:

Each person on your family tree is a story waiting to be told. No matter what a person did in his life, he has a story to tell. This book will help you to discover how to find those stories. Some of the stories will be dull, but most of them are really interesting. You may be surprised to find all the great things your ancestors did in their lifetimes. Some of the stories are also a lot of fun.

One example is a story of a relative of my husband. This man has been dead for over ninety years but one of his stories is remembered to this day. As a kid, he was famous for his Halloween pranks. One Halloween he and some friends managed to coax the neighbor's cow up onto the roof of a barn. It took the townspeople most of the next day to get the poor cow back down!

I suspect every mischievous nine-year-old can identify with that story. In fact, this "older child" also finds it amusing!

The remainder of Roots for Kids builds upon similar material; it frequently stresses why the reader will find the family tree to be so interesting.

Roots for Kids then leads the student (and teacher) through discussions of relationships (what is a second cousin?), how to ask questions, how to organize research materials, and how to use the Internet to conduct research in local, state, and national records. Susan Provost Beller weaves her own stories in and out of this book in order to give examples of what the student may find in his own family tree.

The current Roots for Kids is the Second Edition. I never saw the First Edition, but the new book's advertising states that a lot of new material has been added about using the many online resources of libraries and historical societies without leaving home.

Susan Beller is well qualified to write this book, and her experience shows. She has been involved in genealogical research for more than three decades. In addition to her teaching experience with young people, she has taught advanced genealogy courses to adult education classes.

Roots for Kids is an excellent resource for teaching children about their own history. Along the way, they gain meaningful experience in research methods, history, geography, language, communication, analysis, and culture, to name a few disciplines. Its format as step-by-step lesson plans makes for a logical sequence through what can be a fascinating lifelong study for youngsters and old-timers alike. This book should work well in either a classroom setting or one-on-one. If you have an opportunity to teach youngsters, I strongly suggest that you should obtain this book and study it closely.

Roots for Kids by Susan Provost Beller is published by Genealogical Publishing Company and should be available through any bookstore if you specify ISBN: 9780806317779. In addition, you can purchase it for $19.95 plus taxes and shipping from the publisher's safe and secure online ordering system at http://www.genealogical.com/products/Roots%20for%20Kids%20%202nd%20Edition/422.html.

Comments

[Patty McCormack]

Thanks for this article. It's important to involve our young people and I have several passenger lists on my website transcribed by elementary school children under the supervision of their teachers. Under her grandmother's supervision, another young volunteer started transcribing for us at the age of 13; she is now entering her first year of college. Genealogy is a wonderful way to make history come alive.

[Jay Harper]

I started off fairly young, being fortunate during my childhood to spend many school holidays (vacations) with my grandparents, very hospitable people at whose home there were always family and friends coming and going. Grandma always told me who they were ("That was your Dad's cousin Mary, aunty Kate, uncle Walter, etc") and so I got to know many of the extended family that my siblings never met. So while still in primary (grade) school I stated recording these on a large sheet of paper, adding to this as I sorted out who was who. Then I did the same for my mother's family even though I hadn't met many of them. It was a source of great pleasure and fascination for me and provided foundations I built on much later. I've always been grateful for giving me that first encouragement from Grandma. Maybe more youngsters would benefit from that sort of interaction, learning to see themselves within the big picture.

[Ronald Nicely]

I have not read the book Roots for Kids but I agree with the premise presented. I have been doing genealogy for the last 9 years and my focus was not just on the names but also the stories. One of the stories was about the Indian captire of a 5 year old brother of my 3 Great Grandfather in 1775. It was an interesting story but i could not put a final note on the story since he never returned home. We did know he was alive in 1825 and had children and had been raised as an Indian. Several years ago through a series of unusual circumstances his decendants found me and we had a reunionof the two families 228 years after the capture. They are members of the Seneca tribe in Oklahoma. Getting to the point about children, I work as a docent at an 1800 restored stagecoach inn and we have a lot of children visit to hear about the 1800's. On several occassions there was some extra time and to help keep the children occupied I told them the story of the cature. The director of the inn and the teachers all commented on how quiet and attentive the children were listening to the true story of a child from the area where we live. They asked very good questions when I was finished and many have asked how I was able to find all of this. The curiosity is there and the next time it happens I will let the parents and teachers know there is a book available that will help them learn more. I wrote a book on this captire and I find that children are very interested in reading it. The interest in genealogy is in them it just needs to be developed and I like that the author indicated about learning the stories. I tell people I never had a real interest in history until i realized history was about me and my family. We all have a story to tell and you may be surprised at what you find. Your ancestors come to life in the stories.

[Bev Anderson]

Thank you for sharing this info! :-)

I got interested in genealogy as a result of a genetics project in biology class when I was a sophomore in high school. Genealogy was a detour at the time, but it's now relevant again because of inherited medical problems like allergies and degenerative arthritis.

If I had known back in grade school (50 years ago) what I know now about my ancestors and the roles some played, history would have been a much more interesting topic to study, because it would have become personal, not a bunch of abstract details I couldn't connect to much of anything...!

Besides the obvious satisfaction of knowing one's own roots, one can tie the activities of one's own ancestors to the dry details learned in history classes, learn old medical terms, geography becomes pertinent as one follows the moves of ancestors, math becomes relevant, especially when the calendars changed... et cetera and so on and so forth. Genealogy research becomes a practical application of knowledge acquired in school. I have arrived in my senior years with a head full of "trivia" (much of it related to genealogy research one way or another) and since acquiring my first computer my research has taken a whole new turn thanks to research in foreign countries and being part of genealogy lists, and my 'network' of genealogy correspondents has become international. Because of genealogy, I learned how to make web sites, and only last week I heard from a "new" relative (common ancestor about five generations back in Norway).

On the whole, if there's a kid with an inordinate sense of curiosity (and a low threshold of boredom), genealogy research is one way to positively channel that curiosity, and it's an invaluable learning process on multiple levels because it keeps the mind occupied with how to solve problems, find and analyze data, and put it into context.

I may need to pick up Beller's book and give it to some of the younger members of my family (along with the info and copies of documents I've acquired through the years) and see if they want to pursue my research to areas I have not had time to pursue yet....

[Happy Dae]

Beller's book sounds like a solid investment for all our research files to persist into the future. I'll see if the Library at Fort Worth has a copy this week-end.

It is great to have our children and grandchildren involved in the family history.

Happy Dae.
http://www.ShoeStringGenealogy.com/ssg1.htm

[Jeff Wright]

This book is available on-line at Amazon.com.

[Karla Nurnberg]

Thank you for this book review of "Roots for Kids". It should be worth every penny. I recently copied Family Group
Sheet Forms and Pedigree Chart
Forms to have my ten year old granddaughter begin research on her Dad's Family. This book should help us get her started.

[Laura W. Carter]

Make sure you order the 2nd edition. The first edition came out in 1997.