Family History Study

Family history is one of those things that Steiner didn't really talk about in the lectures given to the first teachers.  In his time, many extended families still lived near each other and children had aunts, uncles, cousins all about. Today we are a much more fragmented society.  There are times in our lives where as adults, we relish in that "buffer zone" we have created, some of us because we don't get along with our families and others because jobs or necessity has pulled us away from the place we grew up. 

As a child, my birth father was in the Army and I moved a lot, I missed grandparents and other extended family and then as my parents divorced when I was young, my mother and I lived in a place that was 1000 miles from my nearest relative.  I craved family.  I wanted to sit at the feet of my grandmother and hear stories of her childhood, listen to my grandfather talk about "courting" my grandmother and the early years of their marriage.  He told tales of tough times and joyous ones.  He told me a story of how his crew (he was a builder and architect) were caved in and showed me newspaper clippings of the incident.  He showed me his Army enlistment picture and proudly belted out his last rank.  My mother knew I needed them as much as they needed me, so I spent many summers with my grandparents, some in California and some in Ohio where they had a cabin on a tiny lake.

When I think about my own children, their experiences are much different.  A sense of family history is something I have had to work harder to cultivate.  When the older three were babies, I dutifully put together pedigree charts from information I had and put it in their scrapbook, there they sat.  Now they are older and have more questions - where did our people come from? Mom, if you are Italian, does that make us Romans?

They ask Erik, if you are Scandinavian, does that make us Norse vikings? The curriculum is so rich with opportunities to pull in family history.  I have really pondered what age group could best understand AND undertake some of the work involved with working on family history. I have brought elements of family history to them since they were in the early grades - on November 1st, All Souls, we often talk about those who have passed and remember them by looking at pictures and I recall stories I was told as a child (stories that must be written down or you will forget!)

In about 4th grade, when they are beginning to explore their home surroundings a bit more through mapping, I like to begin talking also about areas where our relatives live and we often visit, this naturally brings in some family history and it can easily be continued in 5th and 6th grades.  Seventh grade and above seems to be a great time to dig into family history research - especially if you have family that came to your country as immigrants.  One line of my family came with other Italian families in the early 1900's, while my other side came here much earlier, with the first settlers of this country.  Erik's family has roots in Scandinavia, but also has a direct line to the Tudor's and can easily trace himself to Ann Boleyn.

Where do you start?  First, I am no expert, I have been working on family history off and on for many years. I would start by talking to your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, anyone that may have already start this work.  My grandmother is amazing, she keeps her Facebook account updated by constantly scanning and entering old pictures and information for her posterity to see. It is a real treat to see pictures of family members that I didn't even know and hear stories about them.  You need to gather some information, birth dates and/or death dates, full names if possible.  You can use a paid service or a free one.  It really helps to have the computer involved.  I also think that grade 7th & up is a perfect time to really begin to use the computer as a research tool with your child. You tend to get pretty good at learning to search.

I hope this gives you a great starting point or even just something to think about.  Knowing where we come from is so important.  In all the struggles I have had over the years with some family members, it is still always comforting to know my roots and to be able to share that with my children.  Don't forget to share the stories.

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