Here are 5 Tips for Summer Family History Fun
·    Create a list of family members to search for in a cemetery. Make a scavenger hunt sheet or BINGO card for all of the family members. Have your kids help you locate the graves to complete the sheets.
·    Dig out your old recipes and prepare a baked good or meal that one of your ancestors used to make.
·    Gather together with grandparents and aunts and uncle to go through old photographs. How many people can you identify? Write the names on the backs of the photos.
·    Visit a place your family used to live or a place you grew up. Show your kids your old haunts and tell them the stories that go with those places.
·    Encourage your child to keep a journal or create a scrapbook over the summer about their daily events, what they ate, where they went, memorable moments, etc. It is important not only to research and remember the past but also preserve the present.

Are you interested in starting your family history but are not sure where to start? Visit the Generations Store and look for the Family Tree Projects for $3.99 PDF. While you are there, you can purchase the genealogy textbooks for students and adults at 20% off through June 30, 2012. The books eligible for this discount are Branching Out: Genealogy for 1st-3rd Grade Students, Lessons 1-30; Branching Out: Genealogy for 4th-8th Grade Students, Lessons 1-30; Branching Out: Genealogy for High School Students, Lessons 1-30; and Branching Out: Genealogy Adults. Just use the code IDG20JUNE at the Generations Store.

You can also find more information on The In-Depth Genealogist.

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Through thirty fun and educational lessons, students will learn the foundations of genealogy and how to begin research on a level that they can understand and enjoy. Each lesson contains a clearly defined goal, all necessary vocabulary, additional reading assignments, and lesson and homework assignments to extend understanding of the concept.

The Branching Out series of books begins with six paperback textbooks which are also available as a PDF or PowerPoint download. The PowerPoint files, which were created with the visual and hands-on learner in mind, contain the same information as the textbooks with a few fun and interactive extras.

The Branching Out: Genealogy Lessons for Adults will be released in April with additional books for families, genealogical societies, and educators to be published later in 2012.

The books are available on CreateSpace in paperback form at the links provided. The PDF and PowerPoint files are available at the Generations Store at: http://www.e-junkie.com/generations

Branching Out: Genealogy for 1^st – 3^rd Grade Students Lessons 1-15

Book $24.95

PDF $17.95

PowerPoint $17.95

Branching Out: Genealogy for 1^st – 3^rd Grade Students Lessons 16-30

Book $29.95

PDF $20.95

PowerPoint $20.95

Branching Out: Genealogy for 4^th – 8^th Grade Students Lessons 1-15

Book $26.95

PDF $18.95

PowerPoint $18.95

Branching Out: Genealogy for 4^th – 8^th Grade Students Lessons 16-30

Book $32.95

PDF $23.95

PowerPoint $23.95

Branching Out: Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 1-15

Book $29.95

PDF $20.95

PowerPoint $20.95

Branching Out: Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 16-30

Book $34.95

PDF $24.95

PowerPoint $24.95

If you live in the Chicagoland area, you can meet Jennifer and purchase books at the Fountaindale Public Library’s Author Fair on Saturday, April 14, 2012.

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Harold Henderson’s Midwestern Microhistory’s site: Good News For Chicago Genealogists

Cyndy Richardson’s ChicagoGenealogy: Research Insights from Study and Serendipity: What If You Could Read 50,000 Foreign Language Articles from Chicago Newspapers in English? You Can!

Enjoy! And, my new series Branching Out Kids’ Genealogy textbooks are on sale today!

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Step 1: Go to: http://the1940census.com

Step 2: Click GET STARTED from the menu at the top.

Step 3: Download and install the Indexing Software

Step 4: Register for a FamilySearch account, if you don’t already have one.

Step 5: Select “Another group”, then select DuPage County (IL) Genealogical Society from the dropdown list.

The paperback will be available on CreateSpace. The PowerPoint and PDF versions will be available on my website through my E-Junkie store. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to stay in touch with what’s going on with Generations. This is only the beginning of a major kids’ series. Also sign up for my editor, Stephanie Pitcher Fishman’s newsletter at Corn and Cotton. Together this year we will be collaborating on more educational resources. You will want to know what she is working on as well!

The following will be released March 28 and the links will be live on all my blogs and my Generations website.

1st-3rd Grade Students

Books

• Branching Out Genealogy for 1st – 3rd Grade Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for 1st – 3rd Grade Students Lessons 16-30

PowerPoint

• Branching Out Genealogy for 1st – 3rd Grade Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for 1st – 3rd Grade Students Lessons 16-30

PDF Version

• Branching Out Genealogy for 1st – 3rd Grade Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for 1st – 3rd Grade Students Lessons 16-30

4th-8th Grade Students

Books

• Branching Out Genealogy for 4th – 8th Grade Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for 4th – 8th Grade Students Lessons 16-30

PowerPoint

• Branching Out Genealogy for 4th – 8th Grade Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for 4th – 8th Grade Students Lessons 16-30

PDF Version

• Branching Out Genealogy for 4th – 8th Grade Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for 4th – 8th Grade Students Lessons 16-30

High School Students

Books

• Branching Out Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 16-30

PowerPoint

• Branching Out Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 16-30

PDF Version

• Branching Out Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 1-15
• Branching Out Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 16-30

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Visit the new blog and sign up for my newsletter. I’m giving away a copy of Finding Your Chicago Irish on Monday!

ProGen has been very challenging this fall. We have delved into Research. This means conducting research, writing a plan and report. The members of my group all presented differing research reports. I learned so much from their layout and information included. There is not just one way to write a research report.

January focuses on proof summaries. I need to figure out what I’ll write mine on. I’ll let you know how that goes. April concludes the ProGen Study Group for me. Seems like the time flew by!

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How can you get a copy?

A limited number of signed hardcover copies are available for purchase through my website. Just order from the right column.

You can visit Lulu.com to get a copy for your Apple IPad or unsigned hardcover copy.

Have a NOOK or Kindle? You can get copies there also!

And CreateSpace has the book in paperback.

Happy Holidays!

I get to go back to Springfield, MO very soon for a short visit for my niece’s 1st birthday. On that trip I hope to meet up with a woman named Sharon who is a cousin of a close friend. We are going to talk about the genealogy research I have done for my friend, specifically about Civil War Pension Files. I am hoping to also meet a friend from Twitter who lives there.

Then in December I get to spend 10 days down there house sitting for my parents and babysitting my niece. If you know I have a house full of boys you understand that spending a week with my 1 year old niece will be heaven, even if I have to change diapers, which I will. LOL!

In December I hope to use the Ozarks Genealogical Society Library to do more research for my friend and visit the main branch of the Springfield library. They have a nice collection too.

It will be great! I am very excited to go. I’ll post about my research while I’m there. Maybe I’ll learn something new or find something great on my visit.

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