Little Family Tree Teaches Children Family History

I am always looking out for activities for children for family history. I see little children all the time passing time on a parent's smartphone or mobile device. "Today's children intuitively understand how to use touch devices such as smartphones and tablets. They use them to play, watch, and learn. The objective of Little Family Tree is to bring a child's personal family history to them through this learning medium and to share it in a way that is accessible to them."  See Little Family Tree Handout. 

Little Family Tree, from Yellow Fork Technologies LLC, is a great app that will engage your children and grandchildren using the data and photos that you have added to Family Tree on FamilySearch.org (it's FamilySearch Certified). Little Family Tree won 3rd place in the Children's category of the 2015 LDSTech App and Game contest. The activities are more meaningful and effective if you have added photos and basic information to Family Tree, otherwise the games and activities that children select from the house displayed in the app will use a default photo.

I downloaded the app from Google Play for $3.99, and I have to say that it is worth every penny. I am having fun with most of the games and activities myself. Just think about the minutes you spend waiting on an appointment or looking for something useful to keep children entertained. Well, now you can have fun with the children or grandchildren while they learn about their family.

Little Family Tree requires an adult to grant permission to access your FamilySearch.org account to use the app, but they do not share that information with anyone else. You also get to select the person who is playing the game which tailors the experience to that person, and it is so much fun to play together. 

The home screen, a house, is where you select the games you want to play. I figured out that the lights come on in the house when you click them. Even the youngest child can play scratch off which reveals a photo of a family member behind a rectangular grey shape. Check out their video:

Some of the games that I have played so far are:

• Scratch off (explained above)
• Relationship Bubbles where you match the mother, father, and child
• Sing-a-long where you dress up family members before they perform a song
• Heritage Dress Up where you dress a family member in the clothing from different countries

Visit Little Family Tree to learn more and discover more activities, and be sure you have beefed up Family Tree and Memories a little on FamilySearch.org. Then go download the app on Google Play or at the App Store today! It is also available at Amazon Kindle. 

I will be watching for any updates they come out with for this app!  Have you seen any other great family history apps for children out there? If so, please share in the comments below!

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Add a Source to Family Tree

In case you missed it on the FamilySearch blog, you can now add sources to Family Tree from other websites. You can also add documents and photos to the sources category on the for your ancestor. See the video demonstration included above.

The option to attach historical records from within FamilySearch Historical Records was a feature already. Now you can add all your sources that are other websites to one place on Family Tree. When your family members ask to see your findings, they can log on free at FamilySearch to access everything you share there.

If you have PDF files or other documents or photos at home, upload them to Family Tree. Scan or take digital photos of resources that are still in paper form. With these new features, you can finally get organized and preserve your research for future generations.

A great app for smart phones is CamScanner. It will turn your phone camera into a scanner that you can carry in your pocket eliminating the need to waste money on endless photocopies because you can upload and source everything all at once. Digital cameras produce high quality images that photocopying never could. CamScanner will also turn your digital copies into PDF files.

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Not the Curiosity That Killed the Cat Genealogy

As you begin to trace your own roots, you may not know or understand the standards professional genealogists follow everyday, but that should not exclude you from ensuring the integrity of the findings you share with family members or in online communities. Considering three of the basic principles below will help those who come after you and may even lead you more accurate discoveries.

Family trees

It is a great temptation to be curious about what others may have on your ancestor in an online family tree. Remember the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat?" The same holds true if you delve too deeply in a family tree without documented sources. You may end up more confused if you do this with no idea who your end-of-the-line ancestor is. Many newbies accept information as factual and adopt the wrong person as an ancestor. Then when they attempt to document the person they think should come next in line, they run into the proverbial "brick wall."

The correct way to take advantage of an online tree is to first research as thoroughly as you can to learn more about the missing ancestor before you even turn to someone else's family tree. Some find that confusing: "How do you research someone you do not know?" You can research an ancestor even if you do not know his or name. Just begin with the children. Much of the time records that document the generation before mention parents. If an ancestor had six children, you have six avenues to locate resources where parents may be mentioned. If that ancestor has a sibling with children, well, you can do the math! Records types to look for would include death certificates, obituaries, funeral home records, church records, the census, wills and probate and marriage records.

Sources

Many beginners stop researching an ancestor after one or two discoveries. If you look for a wide range of sources throughout the lifetime of an ancestor, you can develop a more accurate picture of their life and who they were related to. For example, searching for your ancestors on each available census can reveal a snapshot of their family every ten years. If that same ancestor was enumerated on a state census, your chances to learn more are even greater. Using the federal census, you may discover infants who died young, parents or grandparents who lived in the same house, or neighbors who married into the family.

Citing your sources helps other people interested in your findings to be able to follow in your footsteps to access the same records you used. Are not all family historians looking for that "one person" who will take an interest in the family's history and carry on where they leave off? You have the power to make things easier for them.

Complete and accurate citation of sources allows others to replicate the steps taken to reach the conclusion. (Inability to replicate the research casts doubt on the conclusion.), The Genealogical Proof Standard

Drawing conclusions

Is your genealogy made up of oral history or stories that you have never documented? Memories dim over time. Facts can be forgotten or misunderstood. If you have a huge research challenge that you have not been able to overcome, and you are basing your research off of "things your mom or dad said," then perhaps it is time to test your theories by documenting each part of the story that you can. Chances are you will actually learn more to add to the story, or you may discover that bits of it are not true after all.

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Family Trees Are Not Historical Records

It can be overwhelming to keep focused while searching online genealogy websites for historical records to document your ancestor. No, an online family tree is not an historical record even though many beginners are preoccupied with using family trees to identify ancestors. Trees can provide useful hints, but the digitized versions of original records on genealogy websites should be the real meat in your search. If you keep the following tips foremost in mind, the time you spend searching online will be well spent.

Begin by building your own online tree. Add what you know, what you already have and what your family can share with you: photos, documents, stories, etc. A few popular websites are FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, FindMyPast.com, and Geni.com.

Searching collections

Research the collections that are available on the website you choose for the area where your ancestor lived. You will become familiar with the different collections that exist and the time periods they cover, and you will plant those collections in the back of your mind as you anticipate which records will surface in a search. Often it is more beneficial to search an individual collection instead of searching an enormous host of records from the main page. Compare different collections on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.

Search for historical records from your ancestor's record on the tree. FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com both have the feature that allows you to search the historical records from an individual's record on the tree. This is a great way to filter out unnecessary results.

Attach records

Attach the records that mention your ancestor to the tree that you are building. Attaching the records you find on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com improves the accuracy of the records suggested, and you can find documentation quickly.

As you discover historical records, be sure to attach them to the other family members mentioned in a record. This will help you become familiar with parents, siblings, children and spouses that you may not have known personally.

After you have discovered as much as you can for one ancestor, visit other websites that offer historical records. Create new sources for those records on the tree that you are building.

Consult trees last

Once you exhaust historical record collections online, begin to search for sources attached to your ancestor on other online trees. You may discover photos, stories or records that are not available online. More often than you realize, you will have the most documentation cited. Consulting other trees after you have exhausted your search will ensure that you will never be confused by conflicting details from another tree. Share the URL for each individual record that you complete. Be sure to share in the places your family can be found whether it be Facebook or via e-mail.

Research your ancestor's entire family in the way described above before going on to research their parents. Sometimes it takes getting to know an entire family group through available documents before you can discover more about the preceding generation.

Check for website updates and new collections regularly. Once you exhaust records available in online databases, learn about resources in archives and local repositories by visiting FamilySearch Wiki or Ancestry Wiki.

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Understanding Overcomes Offenses in Genealogy

People from many different levels are researching their ancestors, and everyone is striving to learn about techniques and resources at their disposal. Everyone has started a different way learning as they go. If you have been involved for any length of time, you are probably aware of the topics that can get people a little hot under the collar. Views expressed can be taken offensively without either party meaning for that to happen. People who do not understand become offended when someone points out an error or shares tips about technology, records, or best practices. Below are three challenges that everyone has seen.

Basing research on family trees without sources

Online family trees are the most popular accessed resources that people use in genealogy research today. That might make you cringe when you consider the fact that most trees are unsourced. Often unseasoned researchers copy information from an existing tree or create records with no proof as to how they are related to the individuals they add. So what does a source consist of exactly? A source is made up of the following:

citation: a reference to specific information, or evidence about a fact or event in your tree—it should help other researchers retrace your steps to find the same information you found.

Example: Year: 1930; Census Place: Idaho, Gooding County, Wendell Precinct; NARA publication: T626; Roll: 399; Sheet: 7A; Enumeration District: 24-8; Digital Image: 1062.0.

source: Source: the document, index, book, person, or other material (including its corresponding publication information) in which you found the information related to a fact or event in your tree.

Example: 1930 United States Federal Census, published online by Ancestry, 2002, Provo, Utah, USA; Index by Ancestry from microfilmed schedules of the 1930 U.S. Federal Decennial Census. Data imaged from national Archives and Records Administration, T626, 2,2667 rolls, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

repository: the library or other location where the source was found.

Example: New York Public Library or Ancestry, etc." See Support Center document: Sources in Ancestry Member Trees.

Using other people's photos without permission

Another point of contention occurs as people download photos and share them online or in their own publications without the permission of the owner. This leaves resentful feelings.

You should be aware of the copyright policy of the website you are using. Ancestry.com's copyright policy says: Content which has been contributed to public area of the Ancestry Operations, Inc. sites by users remain the property of the submitter or the original creator and we are a licensed distributor of such content. See "What is your copyright policy?"

FamilySearch.org's copyright guidelines include: We are sensitive to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of others. Be aware that content, including photographs, stories, and personal experiences, even if submitted to a site to which you belong, remains the property of the creator or submitter. You should not reproduce it without permission of the owner. No one should ever let their zeal for research cross over the line to stealing another person's photos and passing them off as their own.

Newcomer vs veteran researcher experience

Sometimes it is difficult for those who did the painstaking research that was required long ago to make the transition in helping today's new family historian who has grown acquainted with available resources and technology allowing for quicker success in finding documentation. It takes newcomers a little longer to appreciate the challenge of once having to travel far away to the place records were held. Many have no idea that at one time you had to order microfilm and wait a couple of weeks to view it.

The newbie's enthusiasm for the swiftness of finding records online is contagious while at the same time, the seasoned veteran has the ability to instinctively know where to look when the answer cannot be found online. Hopefully, everyone can learn advanced research skills from the veterans while feeling the thrill of evolving technology felt by those starting fresh. If you are new to genealogy, try these great first steps: New to Genealogy – Beginners First Step.

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