A few years ago, one of my adopted sons was captivated with the Ancestry commercials about DNA testing. There were so many unknowns for them about their birth family and now there was a way to find out about his ethnic backgrounds. He yearned to do one of the DNA tests like I’ve never seen him want anything else. We bought one for him, myself, and my husband – and then all of us eagerly awaited our results!
After receiving our DNA results, we all wanted to learn more about the countries our ancestors left as they traveled across the ocean to the U.S. Our curiosity quickly expanded into learning about the history that may have influenced their immigration.
This is a homeschool project I’ve been working on with my highschool sons for about a year now and will continue to work on it into the coming year. Several people have asked me if I’d share how we went about doing this activity. This is a multi-subject learning opportunity and can be used by homeschooling families or by those of you looking to do something with your kids as we spend more time than usual at home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This project can be adjusted to fit each family’s needs, interests, and resources.
Science
- Learn more about my ethnic backgrounds via a DNA test
- How does Ancestry extract my DNA from my saliva sample?
- Learn about DNA and RNA
- How is genetic information passed from one generation to the next?
If you would like to send in a saliva sample and find out more about your personal ethnic backgrounds, you can purchase a kit from Ancestry or 23 and Me. (This is not a necessary component of this lesson.)
Videos and lessons on DNA and RNA: From Guest Hollow
Videos about DNA and the science behind your AncestryDNA results: from Ancestry
Orthodox Christianity
- Pray for the departed souls of our ancestors
- Make and bring kolyva to church
- If you know some of your ancestors had different beliefs from Orthodox Christianity, what were the differences – as well as the similarities?
Prayers for the departed: from OCA website
How to make Greek style kolyva: from Illumination Learning
Learn more about different beliefs, “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy” by Andrew Stephen Damick
Geography
- Put up a world map on any wall in your home
- Using the ancestor printout below, some string, and tape – show where each of your ancestors were born in the world
Do some research on the cities, states, and/or countries where your ancestors were born. You can get books from the library, buy books from the bookstore, do some research on the Internet, or look for some documentaries to watch.
Worksheet to help you learn more about each of your ancestors
What historical events did my ancestors experience in their lifetime?
My husband travels extensively for his job. This is one of the ways I’ve kept my kids connected to dad and vice versa. We play a game via FaceTime – “Where in the World is Dad?”
History
- Interview any living relatives about your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents (My kids called their grandparents and asked them questions)
- Research on Ancestry.com
- Learn about significant events during your ancestors’ lifetimes
After my kids researched the historical event, they wrote a summary about it using the worksheet above. I had them place it on the wall, below the map, on our timeline. I marked years on teacher sentence strips to create a timeline. I got the sentence strips at a teacher store, but you can also find them here.
Here is a list of potential interview questions to ask your relatives: from Ancestry website
Free history lesson plans: from Ancestry website
There are documentaries available to watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and from the library. On Netflix, I create a separate “person”/image to click on labeled “Substitute Day” and save documentaries or educational shows in “My List” for my kids to watch.
You can also listen to audiobooks from the library or Audible
The Great Courses Plus also has streaming courses on many historical events and time periods
Cultural Studies
- Learn a foreign language that my ancestors spoke
- Namedays
- Make a food from each of my ancestors’ homelands
- Learn a traditional handicraft from one of my ancestor’s homeland
- Learn traditional folk music or dance
My personal favorite foreign language program is Rosetta Stone, but there are many other resources available as well. Our library has the Muzzy foreign language videos available for free check out.
When you’re making a traditional meal or dish, make sure you research it first. There are many dishes in the United States that we associate as Italian, Irish, Mexican, etc and they are actually fusion food – meaning it’s a dish that Americans tweaked for one reason or another and you don’t actually find it outside of the U.S.
Reading & Writing
- Create your own ancestry book: scrapbooking, online book publishers, or through Ancestry.com
- Archive all of your research in a binder
- Write a journal about your ongoing research
- Read biographies & accounts of events
Free printable templates and genealogy charts: from Ancestry website
