The Keys to Inspiring Others
Can you inspire others to love something without being inspired yourself? Have you ever had a teacher who was passionate about the subject they were teaching? How did they affect your interest in the subject? Have you ever had a teacher who was not excited about the subject they were teaching? How did it affect your interest? The experiences were most likely very different. What kind of teacher or example do you want to be when teaching family history?
“When parents wish to teach their children specific values, they do so most powerfully by example… Example has more meaning to a child than we may think.”
Take the time to gain an enthusiasm and excitement for family history. Then you can genuinely share it and have a greater influence because it will be contagious.
If you are already inspired, CAREFULLY choose an idea that will inspire your children. If you choose from the ideas according to these three things, the likelihood of inspiring them to love family history will increase exponentially.
3 Keys:
AGE
Try to remember what it was like to be their age. Make it fun and unique to them. Traveling to cemeteries and churches may not interest young children and may even bore them but a bedtime story would engage them and ingrain the stories of their ancestors into their minds. In contrast, adults may not get as much excitement out of a picture-matching game as they would attending or planning an ancestor night or planning and going on a trip to the homeland of their ancestors.
INTERESTS
Do they like acting, drawing, cooking, organizing? Do they find maps interesting or do they enjoy music? Let their interests guide you.
LEARNING STYLE
We all have different ways that we learn best. The three learning styles are visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Consider the individual learning style of your child and choose any idea that will cater to that style. Some children will enjoy doing research on a computer, some will gravitate toward hands-on games and projects, and others will lean toward interviewing relatives because they enjoy social interaction.