How to Teach Your Children From Family History

We love family history. There are lessons to be learned, family to remember and bridges to build. There is so much we can do today to teach our children from the past and help them to aim high for the future. Let me share a few with you.

1. Create your own readers and story books from pictures of your ancestors or your children. Think of the keepsakes they would be. One sentence, quote or or scripture verse per page is all that is needed to help your child become engaged in learning to read, learning a lesson, learning about history and culture or just learning about a family member. With the all the new publishers of photo books available to us, it is an inexpensive way to give your child a legacy and invite them to create their own.
   I was in the Dollar Tree the other day and picked up the book by Kate Gosselin, titled, “Eight Little Faces, A Mom’s Journey”.  It is the perfect example of this idea. She has a photo on each spread with a verse and a little note.
   Children’s attentions spans can wonder easily. Having something with big pictures and few words are a wonderful treat for them. Some book ideas may include:
   Make a book of Grandpa’s quotes and pictures of grandparents.
   Make a book of prices, cars, clothes, then and nows, that have pictures of ancestors and you or you children.
   Make a picture book of Christmas or holiday pasts.
   Make an ABC book of family photos that are alphabetical. For example, “A is for when we picked apples.”
   Make a story book of a lesson learned by  or an obstacle overcome by a family member.
   Make a family recipe book with one recipe, illustrated with you making and eating with it with your child.
   Make a book of vocabulary words, maybe of a native language, or of common family words, with their definitions.
   Read family letters or birthday cards or other correspondence and have copies of them in a place where the children can get to them and read them easily. I had a friend who’s daughter kept every note her mom ever wrote her, in her journal. She was still learning to read when she showed it to me but she could read the notes very well.
2. There is a lot of math in family history. Here are some conversation starters that combine family history and math.
   Talk about prices then and now.
   Make old family recipes together.
   Talk about what was happening in the world on your child’s birthday.
   Talk about how much older or younger their relatives are.
   Talk about big events in your family’s history and the dates they happened.
   Break out your journals and talk to your children about things that happened when you were their age.
   Make a calendar with your children for the year and document birthdays, holidays and special family events from the past and present.
   Look for patterns in family history. We recently realized that my husband’s father, grandfather and four generations before them,all died in the month of May. We also found that many big changes, like relocation and new beginnings, for our family, happen in the month of April. And many difficult but important things, historically, have happened in September.
   Find a place in your home to measure your child’s growth, if you make it portable, you can take it when you move. You can also compare and contrast the size of your feet or hands to theirs.
3. Teach your children to write their own history. Have them draw pictures or write up stories about special events or family vacations. Being able to recall and retell stories from the past will not only help to learn from it, but help them communicate more effectively as well. Here are some ideas:
   Teach by example, tell your children family stories in a short and logical way, using beginning, middle and end.
   Have your children dramatize a family story.
   Have your children memorize family poems or put them to music.
   Make books with your child about a family trip, about a lesson they learned, or about when they were a baby, have them illustrate it.
   Keep a sample of your child’s handwriting as they grow, compare yours with family and do a study of what you can learn from a person’s handwriting.
4. Teach your children about historical events by sharing ways the events impacted family members. Perhaps your family member was a soldier in a war, or perhaps they were impacted by an invention. Making family a part of historical events and sharing how lives were impacted, is one of the ultimate learning tools and personalizes history in a very vivid and special way.
5. There are so many arts and crafts revolved around family history, the sky is the limit. Here are some ideas:
   Make mini scrapbooks of different shapes and sizes.
   Make a memory jar with small mementos from a special family trip, and tiny strips with little memories on them.
   Make a memory diorama.
   Make an explosion memory box. These are fun because when you take off the lid of the box, it just falls open and it is full of photos and even tiny mementos. Check them out online. There are many tutorials.
   You can make game cards and game boards with family photos,  like a matching game that matches photos of adults and their child selves.
   Shadow boxes are a great way to decorate your home and preserve memories. Fill them with photos and memorabilia.
   Making quilts out of baby clothes and or sports clothes is also a fun way to preserve memories and teach your child to sew at the same time.

The fact is, family history is a powerful teacher. Let me just end by sharing a story by President Henry B. Erying, from the 2010, April General Conference. He says:

“With my own children, I prayed for revelation to know how I could help each of them individually prepare for specific opportunities to serve God. And then I tried to help them visualize, hope, and work for this future. I carved a board for each son with a quotation from scripture that described his special gifts and an image that represented this gift. Beneath the picture and the legend, I carved the dates of each boy’s baptism and ordination into priesthood offices, with his height marked at the date of each milestone.

I will describe the boards I carved for each son to help him see his spiritual gifts and what he might contribute in the Lord’s work. You can be inspired to recognize, as I did, specific gifts and unique opportunities for each of the youth you love and lead.

When my oldest son became a deacon and an Eagle Scout, a picture of an eagle came to my mind as I thought of him and his future. We were living in Idaho near the base of the South Teton mountain, where we hiked together and watched the eagles soar. That picture in my mind gave me the feeling of Isaiah’s words:

“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”¹

In fact, with that oldest son, we had stopped hiking below the peak of the South Teton because my son grew weary. He wanted to stop. He said, “Will I always be sorry that we didn’t make it to the top? Dad, you go on—I don’t want you to be disappointed.”

I replied, “I’ll never be disappointed, and you’ll never be sorry. We’ll always remember that we climbed here together.” At the top of his height board, I carved an eagle and the inscription “On Eagles’ Wings.”

Over the years, my son soared higher as a missionary than I had imagined in my fondest hopes. In the challenges of the mission field, some of what he faced seemed to be above his reach. For the boy you lift, it may be, as it was for my son, that the Lord lifted him higher in preaching the gospel in a difficult language than I had thought possible. If you will try with any young man to sense his priesthood possibilities, I promise you the Lord will tell you as much as you need. The boy may have potential even beyond what the Lord will reveal to you. Help him aim high.”

Family History is an important part of creating a successful, happy family. We can learn a lot from our loved ones. And happy families make happy people.

Hugs,

Bianca