Chapter 02

My Family & My Story

Kindergarten

Everyone has a history — even you! · families & timelines

At a glance
Core ideaEveryone — even you — has a history worth recording.
Key termOral history — the past learned by listening to someone tell it.
You can…Draw a family tree and your own timeline, oldest to newest.
Watch outMemories vanish if nobody asks about them and writes them down.

Theory Key ideas

You have a family: maybe a mom, dad, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles. A family tree is a picture that shows how everyone is connected — parents at the bottom, their parents (your grandparents) above them, and so on, growing like the branches of a tree.

You also have your very own history! A timeline is a line that shows things in the order they happened, oldest on the left, newest on the right. Your timeline might show: the day you were born → your first steps → your first day of school → today.

Explanation Why it matters

Your grandparents and great-grandparents were once kids too, in a world that looked different from yours. Asking them about their lives is called oral history — history you learn by listening to someone tell it. It is one of the oldest and best ways humans have ever passed down the past, long before anyone wrote anything down.

A big historian word

Oral history. "Oral" means spoken. When you ask a grandparent, "What was it like when you were little?" — and really listen — you are collecting oral history, just like real historians do.

Practical Draw your family timeline

Get a big sheet of paper and draw a straight line across it. Mark these events in order, oldest to newest:

  • The day you were born
  • Something exciting that happened when you were very small
  • Your first day at school
  • Today

Then ask one grown-up in your family this question: "What is one game you played when you were my age?" Draw a little picture of their answer next to your timeline.

Q&A Test yourself

What is a family tree?

A picture that shows your family — you, your parents, your grandparents and beyond — and how everyone is related, like branches growing from a tree.

What is a timeline?

A line that shows events in the order they happened — the oldest event on the left and the newest on the right.

What is "oral history"?

History that you learn by listening to someone talk about what they remember — like a grandparent telling a story about when they were young.

Why is it useful to ask grandparents questions about the past?

Because they remember things that happened before you were born, and if nobody asks and writes those memories down, they can be forgotten forever.

Concept mind map

How the ideas connect

Every key idea in this chapter, branching from the core concept — use it to see the whole picture at a glance.

parentsgrandparentsfamily treemy timelinememoriesold and youngfamily photosMy Family & My Story
Infographic

The key facts, visualised

Family tree
A picture showing how family members are linked
Timeline
A line showing events in the order they happened
Memories
Stories families keep about the past
Solved examples

Worked problems, step by step

Follow each solution line by line, then try to reproduce it on paper before moving on.

Example 1How do you draw your own family timeline?

  1. Start with the day you were born
  2. Add big moments in order, like starting school
  3. Draw them along a line from oldest to newest

Example 2Who is older, you or your grandparents?

  1. Grandparents are your parents' parents
  2. They were born before your parents
Practice problem set

Now you try

Work each one out first, then tap to reveal the worked answer.

1Who are the oldest people in your family?
Grandparents and great-grandparents are usually the oldest people in a family.
2What is a family tree?
A family tree is a picture that shows how everyone in a family is connected.
3Why do families keep old photos?
Old photos help families remember people and happy times from the past.
4What comes first on your timeline?
The day you were born comes first on your own timeline.
5How can you learn about your family's past?
You can ask your parents and grandparents to tell you family stories.