The Second Grader's Ancestry Project - Part 2

The second grader's ancestry project is complete.  The written report took her about three to four hours to complete.  It involved filling in a few questionnaires and interviewing a family member.  The kicker with the written report was that everything had to be written neat, with proper punctuation, and in complete sentences.  For a second grader, that can be a challenge over the course of eleven pages plus a few other pages that required marking locations on a map and coloring in the family tree.  At least this portion is adequately complete.  Hind sight is that this project is better handled by maybe a fourth or fifth grader.

As for the presentation poster, that turned out very nice.........

My second grader drew and colored the tree, cut everything out, colored the flags, and wrote all of the labels and names on this board.  It is a big help to have so many photos on hand.

The next step of this project is to continue practicing the presentation that she must complete in front of her class.  I must admit that I probably did not have to present in front of a group until I was in sixth grade.  Now, they start them in Kindergarten.  This will be my daughter's 8th presentation in elementary school.  I do think it is a good thing but it is hard for a shy kid.

In mid-March, the class with get together for an ancestry dinner with each student's parent in attendance and some food to share from their country of origin.  It should be a fun evening.

The Second Grader's Ancestry Project - Part 1

Last month my second grader came home talking about her ancestry report.  I knew of the project that her school does in second grade.  Many second graders all over the United States do something with their family tree as part of a social studies lesson.

Well, at my daughter's school, the project is pretty elaborate.  At first, I did express excitement about the assignment.  Then, I had to remind myself that this is her homework, her presentation, and must reflect that in the end product or it just does not work.  She must be vested in the project.  After all, she has to get up in front of her class and talk about her ancestors when I am not there.

One of the biggest challenges that I've found with this project is the plethora of information that I have.  I have family trees for my various lines, even for my husband, along with photos, source documents, letters, anecdotal information, and some other random type items.  It is almost too much information.  Again, it is not my project or assignment, yet I am the source for the information.

The parts of this project include drawing a real family tree, investigating the students given name, putting an "X" that marks the spot on map from which your ancestors originate, interviewing a living ancestor, and interviewing your own family about where they live and how they ended up in their current location.  Additionally, the student must put together a poster for their presentation.  They are welcome to bring a family artifact into to school.

The project culminates with an ancestor dinner on a given evening in March.  Each family attends the dinner with their child. Grandparents and relatives are welcome.  The families are to bring with them food from their country of origin.  Group photos will be taken of each family.  It's a bit of a potluck with set tables in the multi-purpose room of the school.  Yours truly will take the majority of the photos assisted by my husband.

It should be fun but first comes getting the almost eight year old to draw, write, create, memorize, and feel comfortable with her family history.  So far, she has a tree drawn................

Food, Memories, and Ancestors

Christmas Eve in Napa, California found my family gracing the house of my great grandparents (Mary and Herb Borchers).  They lived up in Alta Heights on Willow Avenue in a house that had been built by Mary's brother, J.H. Vienop.  We'd show up there just after dinner at my grandparents' (Dick and Dorothy Flanagan) house.

Dessert in the form of cookies awaited us.  Mary spent many hours baking traditional German cookies that I'm sure her own mother, other family members, and church friends handed down over the years.  While they lived in the United States and Mary had been born in Missouri, they kept a tight knit community with their other German immigrant friends.

We all have our food memories, one of mine stands out in the form of these lovingly crafted cookies and pastries.  The smell, taste, and texture of a Springerle can place me right back in the dining room of my great grandparents' home.  Food has this extraordinary ability of bringing back memories that don't just involve eating but people, at setting, and family.  It truly triggers memories, feelings and emotions from my childhood.

I found the following quote online:  "Over time, food abundance has become a vehicle for memory enhancement at the cultural level. Feasts serve not only an abundance of food but an abundance of memories." -- John S. Allen.  This is so true.

While I am mostly of Irish decent (about 70%), it is my German family that I spent my time with growing up. In fact, it is all of their food (which from my standpoint was always delicious as can be) that I ate.  It is my German heritage that lives on strong in me because of the food that I grew up with.  Sorry to my Irish heritage but most of the food just pales in comparison and there is not much variety.  I do have a pretty great Irish soda bread recipe though.

The following list are the cookies and pastries of my Christmas past and present:

-Lebkuchen
-Thumbprint Cookies
-Ice Box Cookies
-Pfeffernusse
-Springerle Cookies
-Stollen
-Sugar Cookies
-Persimmon Pudding
-Persimmon Bread
-Persimmon Cookies
-Fudge
-Rocky Road
-Mincemeat Cookies

Many of these are German in origin.  Of course, Lebkuchen, Pfeffernusse, Springerle, and Stollen are cookies and pastries made even today in Germany during the holiday season.  What surprised me was when I looked up Thumbprint and Ice Box cookies.  I found they too are German in origin.  Now, the persimmon seems to be more of a North American fruit that originated in the orient. 

Given that my ancestors made their way to California, specifically Napa, makes me think they came upon persimmon recipes when they migrated West.  Napa, California and many places in California are riddled with persimmon trees.  These trees reap a harvest in late Fall when the trees are bare of leaves and rather stark looking, yet have orange ornaments of almost ripe fruit still hanging from the branches.

Yet another surprise was the sugar cookie recipe.  I know that sugar cookie recipes are a dime a dozen.  Some are easy to make while others require quite a bit of work.  My family's sugar cookie recipe includes lard and soured cream.  When I found this recipe online, the title was indicated as the "Heirloom Sugar Cookie Recipe" and stated it was an old German cookie recipe.  My suspicions on that cookie were founded.  For years, I have wondered if my great grandma's sugar cookies were German in origin.  It would appear they are but also known in other countries, too.

My grandma's fudge recipe is probably over 50 years and is indicated as "See's Fudge".  When I looked up rocky road candy, I found that it originated with a Russian immigrant to the United States.  As for mincemeat cookies, those appear to be English in origin.

Whatever the treat, and probably especially the treat if you have a bit of sweet tooth, memories abound.  Not only are our eyes, noses, and tongues attached to our appetites (our stomachs), they are also attached to our memories (our minds and hearts).