Workbook: Start your family history

Goal: begin capturing your family's stories for your children and grandchildren — with help organizing where to start.

Your memories are a treasure your family will cherish — but it's hard to know where to begin. AI helps you organize what you know, draw out the stories, and write them down to keep.

Watch a real conversation

You

I'd like to write down my family history for my grandchildren, but I don't know where to start. It feels overwhelming.

What a wonderful gift to leave them — and we can make it feel small and doable. The easiest place to start is with what you already know: begin with yourself, then your parents, then your grandparents. We'll capture names, dates, places, and — most precious of all — the stories. Would you like to start by telling me a little about your own childhood?

🌳 Notice: overwhelming becomes doable — start with what you know, one generation at a time. The stories matter most.

You

I grew up on a farm in Iowa in the 1950s, one of six kids. My father was a quiet man who fixed everything himself.

That's beautiful, and already a vivid picture. To help your grandchildren really see it, may I ask a few things that often unlock wonderful memories? What was a typical morning on the farm like? What's one thing your father fixed that amazed you? And what did six kids do for fun back then? Your answers will become the heart of the story.

💬 Notice: it gently asks the questions that draw out the good stuff — the details that bring a memory to life.

You

Help me make a list of questions to ask my 90-year-old aunt before it's too late — she remembers everything.

What a treasure she is. Here are gentle questions to bring: "What were your parents like?" "How did the family come to this country / this town?" "What's a story about Grandpa I might not know?" "What was the hardest year, and how did the family get through it?" "Is there a family recipe, saying, or tradition you remember?" Record the conversation if she's willing — her voice is part of the gift.

📝 Notice: it turns "I should ask her things" into a real list of questions you can use this weekend.

You

This is exactly what I needed. Can you help me organize what I know into a simple outline I can print and fill in?

"📜 Family history outline — 1) ME: born ____, where I grew up, childhood memories. 2) MY PARENTS: names, where from, what they were like, a story each. 3) MY GRANDPARENTS: names, origins, a story. 4) FAMILY TRADITIONS: recipes, sayings, holidays. 5) BIG MOMENTS: moves, weddings, hard times, proud times. 6) PEOPLE TO INTERVIEW: who, and what to ask." Print it, fill in a little each week, and you'll have a keepsake before you know it.

🖨️ Notice: a printable outline to fill in slowly. A big project becomes a page you add to a little at a time.

A keepsake, one memory at a time. You don't have to write a book this week — just capture a story, then another. AI helps you organize it, ask the right questions, and turn your memories into something your family will treasure forever.

Now you try — climb the ladder

Start with your own family. Tap Copy to begin.

❓ How do I paste after I copy?

On a phone or tablet: tap once inside the typing box, then press and hold until Paste appears — tap it.
On a computer: click in the box, then hold Ctrl and press V (on a Mac, Command + V).

🌱 Just ask

One plain request.

I want to write down my family history for my grandchildren but don't know where to start. Help me begin.

🌿 Add a detail

Share a memory and let it draw out more.

I grew up on a farm in Iowa in the 1950s, one of six kids. Ask me questions that will help me remember good stories to write down.

🌳 Go back and forth

Capture the elders while you can.

Help me make a list of questions to ask my 90-year-old aunt about our family before it's too late.

🏔️ Make it yours

Get an outline to fill in over time.

Help me organize what I know into a simple family-history outline I can print and fill in a little each week.

What you just learned

Start with what you know. Yourself, then back a generation at a time.
Stories over dates. The details — a smell, a saying, a hard winter — are the treasure.
Ask the elders now. It builds you a list of questions to capture their memories.
Go slowly. A printed outline, filled in a little each week, becomes a keepsake.

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