Lorna Kinnaird

Scottish genealogy and family history is a major topic that needs to be taught to allow potential students to navigate the many archives and archive material available throughout Scotland. My lessons will are prepared for the individual, building on their strengths and existing knowledge of researching source material. Scotland has many unique record collections that each pose their own challenges for accessing the data. By carefully planning my lesson plans, I can offer the student good background knowledge to enable them to then carry out their own research. This can be through Zoom or Teams. A short questionnaire is prepared for the student to allow me to understand their skills at genealogy and to understand their weaknesses - the key places where I can offer guidance and tutoring. If students have already found some Scottish ancestry, then my lesson plans can work from that knowledge and identify key sources for that student to then access at their leisure. Many documents, especially historical or linked to deeds or building histories, will always have Latin terminology. My basic guide to Latin can help break through the language barriers that so often stop research when the student cannot understand what the document is telling them. Above all, my lessons will be fun and engaging and will leave the student eager to find out more and to apply the skills in their own research. This is why a personal tutor in Scottish genealogy can really make the difference to a student's understanding of their ancestry.