Articles with Writing

Family Time, Memories, Traditions
Family Time, Memories, Traditions

Family Time, Memories, Traditions

Our students at The National Institute for Genealogical Studies are preparing for the last month of courses for 2021. December is a busy month for many. Schedules and outside expectations compete for our attention. Be sure to plan your month carefully. Self-paced education takes perseverance and focus. We are here to help you succeed in meeting your genealogical education goals. The Holiday season is upon us – filled with Family Time, Traditions and Memories. It is a time to gather with extended family members and share memories of years gone by. There will be well-known family traditions mixed in with new traditions – welcoming new family members to our celebrations. It’s a good time to take note of changes in our families over the past year of 2021. As family historians, we record the BMDs as we receive the news, but the holidays are usually a time to welcome those new cousins and in-laws into your family circle. It’s a time for stories of, “Remember when….?” and photos! Take lots of photos, especially of family groups and elderly family members. And then there is the food! Traditional recipes with Grandma’s chocolate fudge – made only as she does, and Great-Aunt Mable’s dressing recipe. Be sure to record these. Find out why certain foods are served, and why these traditions were formed, and carried on year after year. Record them and preserve them as the treasures they truly are. We have courses that will give you some ideas of what to ask, with questions to…

Continue reading

Celebrating Student Success

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies encourages family historians and researchers to expand their skills, not only for research, but in many areas. Our online courses cover a vast array of topics related to documenting our family history. We strive to assist our students in the development of new skills, while providing the knowledge and practical application for the material covered in their selected studies. We love to celebrate the achievements of our students and share their successes. Today, we want to share a testimonial from our student, Carol Walsh, in her own words as she shared her achievement with her fellow students: I would like to share with you a great thing that comes from these courses. After attending the Roots Tech conference earlier this year, one of the presenters talked about writing stories to share genealogical events with our younger family members. Having completed a segment of work on my Grandfather, I did just that…started to write a book around this event. I am so excited to share that this book has been published. Thank you for all the lessons learned through my experience in this program. This project all started from a couple of photographs, studying the elements in the photographs, investigative research, and bits of retained knowledge from family stories – put this all together. Not only does this book retain the story, but provides some insight into teamwork, dreams, boats, and dreams coming true. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the training…

Continue reading

Writing Our Family Stories

Our Family History is filled with names, dates, places, and the discoveries of our families’ involvement in historical events. Most importantly, it is filled with STORIES! Stories that need to be recorded and preserved, and then shared, not only with our own family members, but also with others who may have similar connections, or just want to learn the history of their communities. Many of our stories involve the social history of our ancestors. They tell of countless everyday lives and the activities that they participated in, as they interacted within their neighbourhoods and family relationships. We uncover mysteries and heroism, courage and perseverance, tragedies and triumphs, love and loss – stories stranger than fiction, and stories we have never heard before, because they were never passed down. These stories are the real reason we continue researching – to find the why, and the where, and the how of our ancestors’ lives. We must find…. the rest of the story! We become the caretakers of those stories, and we have a responsibility to ensure they are preserved. They are our Heritage. At The National Institute for Genealogical Studies, it is our goal to provide genealogical-related educational materials to assist family historians and researchers to expand their skills, not only for research, but in many areas. Methodology is foundational; and knowing where to locate essential documents is absolutely vital. However, our online courses cover a vast array of other topics related to documenting our family history. One of those areas is…

Continue reading

New Course: Life of Our Ancestors

Looking to learn more about writing a book about your family history? We have a new course that will guide you in writing a book that all your family will want to read. Life of Our Ancestors is written by researcher and author Jennifer Holik. Creating interesting family history stories involves adding details of your ancestor’s life that go beyond just names and dates. What was their occupation? What religious and political beliefs did they hold? Did they serve in the military, and why did they do what they did? This is an interesting way to start fleshing out the bones of your genealogy and to make your family history come alive. In this course we will explore how to find and incorporate information about your ancestor’s life to how to write and publish your family history story. Not sure how to go about writing the story of your ancestor? We cover the very beginning steps of writing to the final product. To learn more about this course and to register, see our website.