Your stories: history at home
Anna Norman shares how her children are exploring the family history and keeping creative while at home
Anna Norman, Deputy Director of Development & Head of Alumni Engagement at Magdalen College Oxford, is one of the many parents managing work and small children at the same time; and it has been quite the educational journey.
Anna shares: 'there are obviously many challenges involved with learning how to combine working remotely with home-schooling our children – something that many of us are currently embracing.
Anna with her children in the den they built together
'My own silver linings, from just the first week of home-schooling my eight year old son and six year old daughter, include finding out about previously unknown family history.
'My son phoned his 93 year old great-grandmother to ask about her experiences of the Second World War. Among other things she revealed that her family had taken in two evacuees and told him all about them – a fascinating story which none of us had ever heard before!
'We learnt more about our local history too. After working together to build a den in our local woodland, we discovered that the site we chose at random is the site of a deserted medieval village.
'We’re waiting to see what other gems of knowledge we’ll find.'
