Family History FHE Ideas

This month the Bishop has challenged us to have Family Home Evening every week and to have at least one of those focus on Family History. How are you doing on that goal? There are still two more weeks, so it's not too late! Here are a few family history ideas that might be helpful to those of you who might be struggling with where to begin, especially when you are inexperienced and/or have small children.

For the Little Ones, this blog has a simple lesson outline. There are some adorable video clips done by familysearch.org that are sure to get the interest of young children.

Another idea, that fulfills requirements in Faith in God as well as Personal Progress, is to fill out a pedigree chart together. You can find a simple one geared toward children here (it also includes interview questions), or a more detailed one here. Use these forms as a catalyst to talk about your ancestors and share facts and stories.

Familysearch.org has gone through a major over hall in the last several months. Check it out! You can sign in using your lds account. Find your family tree. Look at your fan chart. Just get on and explore. There are a lot of tutorials and videos available at https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/. Particularly there are three introductory videos (which are actually easier to locate on theyouth.lds.org family history section).

Speaking of the youth site, there is a TON of excellent information collected for youth about family history at https://www.lds.org/youth/family-history

There are many videos geared toward the youth. They also have youth that have commented and shared their own experiences with family history work.

For those of you who might be a little more adventurous try and find an ancestor in the 1940 Census. There is a nice video that explains what a census is and how it is helpful in Family History work. Try and put as much information as you can in the search fields. If you do not get an accurate result try broadening your search by removing some of information. Often there are errors in the information that was recorded by the census taker (and subsequently indexed), including misspelling of names, incorrect ages and birthplaces. Don't give up! Despite these flaws census records are valuable snap shots of a family in time. Find yours!

If you have any questions contact a ward family history consultant or the family history center. You are not alone, there are many people that are willing to help!

Happy Tree Climbing!