Mary -
I wish you success with your project. The kids will get into it more if they can
relate it to themselves...
Start with a basic family tree. Pictures are a big help. What did parents look like when
they were young? How about grandparents? Have the kids find out what their parents and
grandparents did for fun when they were kids. Where did parents and grandparents live? If
it was somewhere other than Montana, how did they come to live in Montana? What was school
like? What roll did their family play in the history of the area? Did they help build
roads? Did they work on the forest? Did they own a store? Did they farm or ranch? Were
they active in church? Basically, whatever you do, try to make it conversational (and fun)
and try to get the kids to start asking questions of you and their parents and
grandparents. If you get a good enough response, it might make an interesting display at
the museum.
Joan Shurtliff,
Stillwater and Sweet Grass Counties