If you follow me on Facebook (and I hope you do) then you might have seen this announcement from Ancestry. (shown HERE).
Ancestry announced this week that they will now offer the educational program that they’ve been providing to schools for K12 for the past ten years, FREE for at-home use.
So if you have children at home, this is a great way to teach them a bit about history and family history.
If you don’t have children at home, it might be of interest to your grandchildren. So what about having a Zoom class with your grandchildren so that you can take the pressure off your children while they stay at home?
I use Zoom for client meetings, and it’s quite easy to do. I also used it to stay in touch with family this past Christmas. (It was a Zoom Christmas Eve). You can set up a free account, and then you can invite as many as 100 people. Usually, there is a 40-minute maximum time for FREE accounts, but because of what’s going on in the world, Zoom has waived that limit.
So now let’s talk about what Ancestry is offering in the way of lessons.
Available lesson plans can be accessed below:
- 1940 Census Lesson
- The Census and the Constitution
- The Census and the Depression
- Autobiography
- Biography
- Immigration Over Time
- Civil War
- Military Lesson (Civil War)
- Personal Side of War (American Revolutionary War)
- War of 1812 – Privateers
- Mobilization for War (WWI)
- Battles (WWII)
- Local History is Your Community History
- Historical Crime
- Haunted House
- Suffrage Movement
- How Life Influences Art
- African American Congressmen Lesson
- Trail of Tears Lesson
Some of the above are about US history, but some are about life in general, so they apply to Canada and other parts of the world. Besides, I’ve always liked the fact that I know not only Canadian but US history..
Even if you don’t have grandchildren, perhaps now is an excellent time to brush up on a bit of history that you have either forgotten about or slept through back in your school years.
Ancestry also announced that they have teamed up with their digital partner, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, to provide FREE access to search nearly 500 million records and images on Ancestry.
So now is the perfect time to expand your and your family’s family history and take advantage of this FREE access.
I encourage you to read the Ancestry announcement HERE as there are other educational opportunities.