I remember my very first exercise in genealogy. I forget what grade I was in, but I remember that the assignment was to make a family tree. My mother helped me draw a pedigree chart on a boring piece of white paper. I am not sure where we got all of the information about my ancestors from, but we were able to fill out the chart and I handed it in. Even though I remember doing the assignment, it was not really a very memorable experience for me. In fact, it left me with the impression that genealogy is somewhat boring.
Fortunately, I am learning that genealogy is not boring. I decided to look around and see whether anything had changed as far as how kids are being taught about genealogy in school. Today’s teachers and home school parents know that there are much more interesting things that can be done in the classroom than simply asking students to prepare a pedigree chart. Students can explore immigration by researching the movement of their ancestors across the globe over time. They can also learn how to conduct oral history interviews and preserve family stories.
The possibilities extend beyond history and social studies class. If students are learning about genes, they can look at family photographs that contain multiple generations of their family and look for similarities in the features of the people in the pictures. Is there a “family” nose? Does someone have their father’s eyes? This can actually be a very fun and interesting exercise to do on a rainy day at home too – no need to restrict the fun to science class.
Even though my son will not be starting school for a few years, I have learned from other parents that education is a completely different scene from when we were in school. These days, teachers must always be careful not to offend anyone while creating their lesson plans and assignments. Perhaps this was also true back in the day, but I don’t ever remember it being talked about – probably because I was a kid. Anyways, if a teacher wants to introduce his or her students to genealogy, but is unsure of whether the assignment or lesson that they are thinking of doing will upset the apple cart or invade anyone’s privacy, there is always the “safe” option of tracing the ancestry of a famous person like King Arthur or Abraham Lincoln.
How have your kids explored genealogy in the classroom?