Connect!
Growing Little Leaves: Genealogy for Children
  • Home
  • About
  • Mission
  • Activities
  • Printables
    • Ancestor Worksheets
  • Books
    • Grandparents and Memory Journals
    • Immigration
    • Africa
    • Black America
    • Canada
    • East and Southeast Asia
    • India and Bangladesh
    • Latin America
    • Native America
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Blog

Cemetery Freestyling With Kids

9/26/2016

13 Comments

 
Cemetery Freestyling with Kids from GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Cemetery Freestyling. Is that a real phrase? Well, if it wasn't before today, it is now. Cemetery freestyling is what I call going to a cemetery for no reason. You aren't going to visit, look for, or photograph any particular grave or group of graves. You're not looking for people of any specific time period or surname or for any specific grave symbols or shapes. You go just to go - maybe with the intent of getting some mild exercise or just getting out to enjoy nature a little bit.

I've previously written about doing organized cemetery scavenger hunts with my kids, but we also LOVE cemetery freestyling, especially when we travel to different places. It's a great way to learn about local history, people, and burial customs. We've done it with our kids in Memphis, New Orleans, and even just a county over in Indianapolis, but we had never done it in our own town until this past weekend. 

We are not locals to this town, and neither I nor my husband have any ancestors who ever lived in this area. We've lived here for only about five years, but, to our kids, this is really the only home they've ever known. My 3rd grade son had mentioned that they have talked a little bit about town history in school recently, so I thought, 'Why not take a little walk through the local cemetery and see what we can find?'

One of the great things about not looking for anything specific is that you can let the child(ren) guide your path through the cemetery. They are then free to gravitate towards what appeals to them aesthetically, explore what they find interesting, and formulate their own questions about individual graves and grave markers.

Indeed, the first aspects of the stones that kids tend to notice are the differences in shapes, sizes, and colors. As we walked through the cemetery, I asked my kids questions like, "What shape do you like best? Why do you like it? Which stone shape do you think was the hardest to carve?"  I think when we adults are on a mission to find a particular stone or family plot in a cemetery, we tend to bypass some of the wonderfully beautiful and artistic stones and stone carvings that belong to other families, so I highly recommend cemetery freestyling for adults as well!

Cemetery Freestyling with Kids from GrowingLittleLeaves.comMy daughter's favorite stone.
Without any suggestion from me, my son brought along his sketch book. He loves to draw, so I thought maybe he wanted to sketch some of the more unique stones, but instead he decided to write down a list of surnames that caught his eye. (He is a bit of a busy-body and likes to have something to do, even when we just do things for fun.) 

I followed along next to him and coaxed him to look at information beyond just the surname. He discovered that one stone listed the grave's occupant as a member of the Ohio Cavalry, while another was written in German, so we talked about how a person might be born in one location, but buried in another. Stones can give important clues about a person's place of birth. 

I also encouraged my son to use the years listed on the stones and figure out how old a person was at the time of death. So, we had some practical math mixed in there, too.

Cemetery Freestyling with Kids from GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Ohio Cavalry Member
Cemetery Freestyling with Kids from GrowingLittleLeaves.com
German Writing
My daughter is just learning how to read, so my husband and I had to read her the names when she asked what they said. However, she does understand how to read years, and she had a good time practicing that skill when looking at the stones.
Cemetery Freestyling with Kids from GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Reading the years.
We found U.S. Military Veterans from the Mexican War, Civil War, WWI, and WWII. We found entire families buried together, and talked about family plots. We found stones bearing the names of town streets and parks, and talked about how town landmarks are often named after local pioneer leaders or the families who once owned the land. For example, we found this older stone bearing the name of Morton Green. Green Street is one of the major roads in our town, and I asked the kids if they thought maybe it was named after him. We came back home and confirmed via Google that indeed it was. And we also thought it was cool that we found a person born in the 1700s in the cemetery - not terribly common in this area of Indiana.
Cemetery Freestyling with Kids from GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Gravestone of Morton Green, one of our town's major street namesakes!
Autumn is a GREAT time to visit cemeteries, so whether you are traveling to a new place or sticking around your hometown, I encourage you to bring the kids to a cemetery - ANY cemetery - and see what you can all find and learn!

©2016 Emily Kowalski Schroeder

Print Friendly and PDF
Add to Flipboard Magazine.
13 Comments

Learning About The Census

4/27/2016

9 Comments

 
Learning About The Census // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Some of the most important and powerful tools genealogists use to learn about our family histories are census records. But have you ever tried showing a 100-year old census form to a child? Take my word for it, it doesn't go well, and their eyes glaze over quicker than you can explain what a census is.

So, I was on a mission to find a simplified, interactive way to introduce my kids to censuses, which includes teaching them WHAT a census is and WHY we have them. Fortunately, there is a great children's book that helped me to do so. It's called Tricking the Tallyman by Jacqueline Davies and illustrated by S. D. Schindler. The story takes takes places in Vermont in 1790, during the nation's very first census. The story follows the experiences of Phineas Bump, the census-taker,   as he attempts to collect an accurate tally of the town of Tunbridge. First, the villagers hide people because they think it will mean more taxes and conscription. Then, on his second try, they inflate numbers because they hear it will be more government representation. When the villagers realize it will bring both more taxes and representation, they cooperate with Phineas and he does get an accurate count in the end. There is a lot of mischief going on in this book, which makes it fun for kids, plus the illustrations are very educational in teaching kids about what people wore and about the types of homes in which they lived back then.

I made two worksheets for kids who want to 'play census.' One is geared towards older children who can read and write independently, but it is still a simplified version of a census form. The other form is much simpler still, and is meant to be used by kids who are not yet reading independently. An adult or older sibling will still have to help a young child out, but the pictures above the columns (for house number, adult men, adult women, boy children, and girl children) will help the child better visualize what he/she is counting. There is even a place for them to do some simple adding of their tally marks. (Click on each image to open the PDFs.)

Learning About The Census with FREE Roleplay Worksheet from GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Census Roleplay Worksheet (Independent Reader)
Learning About The Census with FREE Roleplay Worksheets from GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Census Roleplay Worksheet (Younger Child)
I played census with my 5yo daughter on our front porch. She was the census-taker. We dressed her up in old-time 'fancy' clothes and I gave her a clipboard and a pencil. She took her job very seriously.
Learning About The Census // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Learning About The Census // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
If you are friends with your neighbors, ask if your child can come to their door as well to record their family. Or, set up little 'households' with dolls or stuffed animals, so your child will have more 'families' to record.

Once they understand what a census is and how it was accomplished, THEN you can start showing kids actual census schedules on which their ancestors are recorded and talking with them about all the helpful information that we can learn from those records. 

©2016 Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Print Friendly and PDF
Add to Flipboard Magazine.
9 Comments

Family Christmas Tree

12/1/2014

0 Comments

 
Family Christmas Tree // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
The holiday season is upon us! A few weeks ago, I was at Michael's craft store and picked up this adorable little artificial evergreen tree (for under $8). I decided we would use it to create a family tree Christmas tree.

In addition to this small tabletop tree, I also picked up some chalkboard decorative tags, red ribbon, and chalk at the craft store. Recently, I've been trying to teach my kids the first names of their grandparents and great-grandparents. So, I thought it would be fun to write our family's first names on the tags and hang them on the tree. The kids' names would be at the top of the tree, then their parents, grandparents, and finally great-grandparents towards the bottom.

Because space on each tag was limited, I wrote out the names, but my daughter sat right next to me and we spelled out each name letter-for-letter. We started with her and her brother's names, then worked through my and my husband's names. Once we got to her grandparents, I started by asking the questions, "Who is my mommy?" "Who is Dad's mommy," etc. to reinforce that idea of just what a grandparent is. 

Family Christmas Tree // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
I thought the tree would look more colorful and festive if we somehow included the red ribbon I had bought. We got out our scissors and yardstick, and I had my daughter measure off nine-inch sections of ribbon, which I then cut for her. I tied simple little bows around branches, and these bows represented the siblings of her parents and grandparents. (If we had included all of the siblings of her great-grandparents, I would have had to tie 70+ bows, which would have been too many for that little tree.) We named each person as I tied them on, with the proper title of aunt/uncle or grand-aunt/grand-uncle.
Family Christmas Tree // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Measuring ribbon
Here is our finished tree! I've clustered the name tags towards one side of the tree so I could photograph most of them, but I've spread them out around the tree while it is on display here in our home. I love that the kids have yet another physical representation of their family tree in our home. Remember, repetition is KEY when teaching young children about family relationships and ancestor names!
Family Christmas Tree // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Our finished family Christmas tree!
Note: Black tags similar to the chalkboard ones I purchased can be made using yarn, a hole punch, and some black card stock or construction paper.

©2014, Emily Kowalski Schroeder. 
Print Friendly and PDF
Add to Flipboard Magazine.
0 Comments

Anniversary and Age Graphing With Blocks

9/1/2014

0 Comments

 
Anniversary and Age Graphing With Blocks // GrowingLittleLeaves.comAnniversary Graphing by Tens
I'm always looking for ways in which to incorporate family history into common educational activities.  When my son was in Kindergarten last year, they did a lot of counting by tens and fives, and they also did some basic graphing.  So, for this simple activity, we graphed family wedding anniversaries using small wooden blocks.  

First, we printed out a few photos of couples in our family - my kids' parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents - and we laid them out on the floor.  I talked with my kids about how long each couple has been married and explained that an anniversary is what we celebrate each year to remember their wedding.  We rounded to the nearest ten; for example, my parents have been married 41 years, so we rounded down to 40. Then, using one block to represent ten years, we counted out the length of marriage for each couple by tens.

Anniversary and Age Graphing With Blocks // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Since he did it last year in Kindergarten, my son didn't have any trouble with counting, but it was still a nice review exercise for him.  My 4yo daughter had never counted by tens before, so I walked her through it, and the more we repeated the progression of 10,20,30,... the more she picked up on the pattern.  And since we had enough blocks, we started over and counted by fives, too.
Anniversary and Age Graphing With Blocks // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
We are fortunate in our family to have several couples that have been married for different lengths of time, so it created a nice, diverse graph.  Another option for this activity is to use individuals' ages instead of wedding anniversaries.  You also don't have to use blocks; try using dominoes, checkers, bingo chips, or you can even do the activity on a table and use snack crackers.

Extension: For older children, go back further in your family's history.  Using obituaries, death certificates, or other records, find out the life spans of earlier generations in your family tree. Graph out those ages, too, and try to look for patterns in longevity or recurring hereditary health problems.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder.
Add to Flipboard Magazine.
0 Comments

Family Tree Fractions

4/1/2014

1 Comment

 
Family Tree Fractions // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
It's Spring Break here in our town, which means my 6 year old son has been lacking the structured schedule and educational instruction that his full-day Kindergarten class usually provides. So, in an attempt to alleviate boredom while at the same time trying to prevent him from losing what he has learned so far this year, I created this simple activity about fractions and very basic genetics.  (Yes, they talk about fractions in Kindergarten these days!)

I raided my stash of solid-colored scrapbook paper.  I simply traced a circular plate on the red sheet of paper and cut it out.  If you are working with an older child, you can ask them to trace and cut, but I didn't want my son to get bored before the important stuff, so I did it quickly myself.  The full circle represents the child, so my son labeled it 'Me' and '1.'  Then, we worked on making three more circles, divided into halves, quarters, and eighths.  The halves represented me and my husband (Mom & Dad), the quarters are his grandparents, and the eighths represent his great-grandparents.  I had my son write the fractions on each piece, and I helped him label the grandparent ones.  To keep it simple, I didn't put actual names on the great-grandparent pieces; I felt like that would be a bit confusing.  I didn't want him getting lost in the names when I wanted the activity to have more of a math focus.

Family Tree Fractions // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
When all of our pieces were done, we talked about all of the people he was "made" of.  Now, it's hard explaining genetics to a Kindergartner, but I tried to get across the idea that there is stuff within our cells that comes from our ancestors.  All he really knows about cells are that they are tiny things that make up our bodies.  

We treated it like a puzzle and put together the pieces for each 'generation' to make a whole circle. I explained to him that he is made up of parts of me, but also parts of Grandma and Grandpa because I am made of parts of them.
Family Tree Fractions // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
When I cut out all of the different pieces, I made sure to use a different color for each person, and I pointed that out to my son. I want him to realize that every person that he is descended from was a different, individual person, and not just a generic 'piece of the pie,' so to speak.  I heard Thomas W. Jones speak this past weekend, and, when speaking on resolving identity issues, he emphasized that each ancestor is "unique in the history of the world."  That's a profound statement and important even for children to realize.  I want them to realize that THEY are unique in their family's story, too. And if kids think of their ancestors more as individuals, they are more likely to want to know those individuals' stories, which is a great entrance into the world of genealogy.

My 3.5 year old daughter was right there with us the whole time, so everything we talked about, she heard, too.  It's tough to know how much she understood, but I let her 'do the puzzle' after her brother was done, and I tried my best walk her through both the fractions and the family relations.  One variation you could do with this activity is to add photos of each person to each piece.  I left those out for my son, because I actually wanted him to read the words AND focus on what the numerical fractions look like.  For older kids, you could actually keep subdividing the pie pieces beyond just great-grandparents - that would be a GREAT way to help visualize the exponential increase of ancestors the further back in time you go.
Family Tree Fractions // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
So here are close-ups of what each 'layer' of the pie looks like, in case you'd like to recreate for yourself. (Click on each image for larger view.)
Family Tree Fractions // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Family Tree Fractions // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Family Tree Fractions // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
Family Tree Fractions // GrowingLittleLeaves.com
©2014, Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Print Friendly and PDF
Add to Flipboard Magazine.
1 Comment

    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

    Founder and Author of Growing Little Leaves

    Emily Kowalski Schroeder / Founder and Author of GrowingLittleLeaves.com

    Categories

    All
    Ancestors
    Ancestor Worksheets
    Archiving
    Books
    Cemeteries
    Charts
    Colors
    Conferences
    Drawing
    Editorials
    Fashion
    Games
    Hands On
    Heirlooms
    Holidays
    Immigration
    Interviewing
    Maps
    Math
    Movies
    Newspapers
    Occupations
    Photos
    Programming
    Roleplay
    Science
    Storytelling
    Surnames
    Technology
    Timelines
    Tracing
    Vocabulary
    Writing

Home

About

Mission & Philosophy

Activities

Printables

Resources

Contact