Mike Smith:
Family heritage can be one of the most exciting and personally meaningful areas of history. As a homeschooling parent, you have a unique opportunity to incorporate your family’s own history into your teaching. And there are some great rewards for doing so!

One of the most important reasons to teach your children about their heritage is to highlight the faithfulness of God. In the Old Testament, God continually showed His people how He loved and guided them by pointing out the way He worked in their history. You can instill in your children an awareness of how God’s hand has preserved, blessed, or even disciplined your family—whether they acknowledged Him or not.

Another lesson your children can glean from family history is the importance of personal decisions. Do you have ancestors who distinguished themselves by acts of personal responsibility and heroism? Maybe you can tell a story of someone who made an important impact by quiet faithfulness.

As your children learn about their family heritage, they will gain a new sense of where they fit into the world and the connection they have with history—which is a great way to engage them in history on a broader scale. You might even find history a little more fascinating!

And finally, the best way to ensure that your family heritage survives to be passed on some day from your children to your grandchildren and succeeding generations is to impart it today to your own children.

And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.