Involving Youth

We had our first 4-H family history project meeting last Saturday and it was terrific.  I am so thankful for Jennifer Holik and her Branching Out curriculum, as it kept me on track.  As you may recall, I tried this last year and it was really difficult.  With Jennifer's curriculum, it's on track and geared toward the correct ages. 

We are having 8 meetings (and some field trips), so I have to do two lessons each meeting.  I was worried about this, but it went just fine.  For our first meeting, we talked about:

• What is Genealogy and Why Should I Care?
• Where Do I Start and What Do I need?

The kids each shared some stories they have heard about their families.  Then we brainstormed on ways they could find out more about that story.  There are four students total, ranging from 6 to 13, so a nice mix and I'm glad I bought two levels of Jennifer's books!  Next meeting we will create family trees, so I’ll post some pictures of their creations.

I also brought them along to the Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society’s Heritage Happenings at the library.  They were greeters and helped people pin their birth places on the maps and directed them to get more information with the helpers in the back.  My son (the six year old) accosted people and literally hunted them down in the library.  “You didn’t put a pin in our map.  It’s right over there!”  His tiny 4-H hat covered head all in their face about it…  Cracked me up while mortifying me all at the same time.