11 May 2010

Involving our Young People


"Heritage, everyone has one," begins the Deseret News article 11 May 2010. Carma Wadley goes on to talk about the Genealogy Kids Camp which was part of the National Genealogical Society conference held in Salt Lake City the last week of April. Kids Camp, geared to inspire young people's interest in their family heritage, focused on story telling, always a winner with kids. Each youth was given an opportunity to relate a story from his or her own life. They were also encouraged to ask questions of older relatives. The article includes a list of possible questions to ask parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. We live in a society where many children are passed from one set of adults to another on a regular basis because of jobs, conflicts, divorce and remarriage. I submit that sharing family history stories with one another is a way of bonding generations--providing the love and security that every child needs.

Here are some of the questions that I liked:
What was the place where you grew up like? How many rooms? Were there any special items in the house that you remember? What is your earliest memory? What was your favorite toy and why? Did you have chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite? What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? How were holidays celebrated? What were some of your family traditions? What would you like people to remember about you?

My 11 year old niece participated in a session of the camp held on Saturday. Her comments were positive. We look forward to her continuing interest in our family history. Ten things kids can do for family history were given in the Deseret News article sidebar. I'm hoping our little miss will choose one or two from this list to continue her search for our family heritage.

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