I guess I can agree only very partially with Carol Kammen's statement that it may be painful for some children. Yes, it may be painful for children of divorce, single parent families, etc. and a good teacher who knows his/her students knows those students who might find a family history project emotionally difficult to deal with and would offer something else in its place (Carol's suggestion of a neighborhood interview project is good). However, children are amazingly resilient, resourceful and insightful beings and know far more about their family situation than parents or non-parents acknowledge. If they deal with a "different" family situation in their daily lives, they usually have the sensitivity and intelligence to deal with it intellectually in a classroom situation. In fact, an "unusual" situation in modern-day America might just be the intact, nuclear, married couple with 2.5 children in suburbia. A compound family made up of a parent with new spouse, a family with an adopted child or children, or a family missing grandparents because they are deceased of in Florida may make the project more challenging and interesting than the afore-mentioned nuclear family. If we eliminate family history as a possibility for all those children from "different" family situations, we have eliminated another opportunity for these children to have a positive experience in learning to live in a family. And we have eliminated one of the primary means by which a child may learn history. History, after-all, for an eight-year old is much more likely to be real if it is the story of her/his father in Vietnam or grandmother making preserves on a farm in the Forties than another battlefield account Napoleon or another boring election race for President. Jim Corsaro James Corsaro Associate Librarian Manuscripts and Special Collections New York State Library Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12230 e-mail: [log in to unmask] (518) 474-5963 On Fri, 20 Jun 1997, carol kammen wrote: > Family history is very tempting and it is interesting for > individuals to pursue. But I worry about class assignments geared to > family history when there are so many other interesting topics available > that don't have the same pitfalls. > > If all families were intact, if all kids grew up knowing relatives, > a family history/genealogy assignment would be fine. But many children > today live in split families and presented with a chart showing mother and > dad could be very painful to them. Where do they put their step mothers, > step fathers, and the others in their lives? Will they feel as their > family is not quite "right" if they can't fill in the recent generations? > If they haven't grandmothers to talk to or grandfather who served in the > war? > > Instead of putting kids in that situation, and you can imagine all > the variations that can occur, I would have the students decide upon topics > and then participate in oral interviews of neighbors. Or have students > "adopt" people in the area with grey hair and interview them about their > lives noting especially when the individual life touches upon some of the > events of history that interest the children. Or have the children do > genealogical charts of the stores on a street to look at change over time. > > Students can conduct a variety of very interesting and very useful > projects. They should know that their research is important and it should > be saved in a local historical society or in a school archive with the > children themselves preparing an index (either on cards or on a computer). > > I urge you to look also, at R. Butchart's Nearby History of your > school published by AASLH which gives very good ideas about how to research > a schoolhistory. Then the childrens' memoires of going to that school can > be added to the research and the students will have participated in > something worthwhile. > > Carol Kammen > Cornell University > [log in to unmask] >