It’s that time of year when parents and grandparents struggle to find the perfect gift of the children in their lives. Finding the balance between personal and thoughtful gifts balanced with the pressures to find the “popular” but short-lived gift of the moment. Well good news, genealogy’s popularity has never been higher. Around the world, people are tuning in to television shows and popular websites, getting excited about their own histories, and actively participating in this expanding hobby. Ok, I may be playing it up a bit, but why not use this popularity to help get kids actively involved. Plus, getting started was never easier with Susan Provost Beller’s book Roots for Kids: A Genealogy Guide for Young People. Here is a review previously posted on this site:
I often hear discussed the need to get children involved in family history. We all know children are the future. Getting children involved in family history at an early age can help ensure someone in the family will be around to take over the research of older generations, protect the work, and cherishing the memories left behind. However, the questions always remain, how to get youth involved and how to teach them the research skills they need in a way they will understand?
Roots for Kids: A Genealogy Guide for Young People helps answer these questions. Unlike other books intended to help adults get children involved, this book is written for the children themselves. Basing this book on a 12 week course she created, Susan Provost Beller, leads young readers through a step-by-step process to understanding, appreciating, and actively doing genealogy.
In this book, children will learn the meaning of new words like vital records, generations, and probate. They will learn to fill in pedigree charts and family group records. Kids will discover the joy of finding their ancestors in census, church, and cemetery records. Kids will learn the joy of successful research. Most importantly, kids will learn of their ancestors in a way as to gain a true appreciation for their own family’s story.
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Second Edition
Preface
1 An Introduction to Genealogy
2 You and Your Family
3 Your Parents’ Families
4 Asking Questions: Genealogy as Oral History
5 Putting It All Together
6 Kinds of Records Found Locally
7 Finding Local Records on the Internet
8 Kinds of State and National Records
9 Online Searching in Genealogy Databases
10 Evaluating Your Information
11 Research Around the World on Your Computer
12 The Ultimate Field Trip
Appendices
- Blank Forms
- Resources for Researching your Family
Index
Give the gift of family history to a child, order Roots for Kids: A Genealogy Guide for Young People from Family Roots Publishing; Price: $21.56.