Family History Daily Course Center

I'm not a professional genealogist (far from it) - I'd call myself an intermediate amateur (and when it comes to analyzing DNA, a definite beginner). When I first started building my family tree, I made a LOT of mistakes. Even after restarting my tree several times over the years, I continued to fall into the same bad habits and patterns. I can't count number of blogs and articles I've read cautioning not to blindly trust other people's trees. Do the research yourself! Don't just accept hints, make sure they make sense for the person you're working on. Nonetheless, I barreled through dozens of hints a night, hundreds in a weekend, measuring my progress by the drop in hint count and increase in number of people in my tree. And I realized - my tree was a MESS! How could I ever fix it? The thought of trying to "clean it up" was beyond daunting. I finally accepted, I needed to start over, from scratch.

Before I jumped into my do-over, I spent time researching affordable genealogy courses. I knew I needed to reframe my thinking and improve my skills. I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars or years in classes. I didn't have time for scheduled online classes. I wasn't after a certificate or degree. I didn't want to be a professional genealogist. I wanted a decent, easy to understand, useful course, at a reasonable price and to study at my own pace. Enter Family History Daily Course Center.

Family History Daily has tons of articles, tips/tricks and guides anyone can access for free. There's quite a lot of valuable information to be had in the free resources. But for those who crave more, they also offer the Family History Daily Course Center with several courses to choose from to fit almost any budget and goal. Courses are online, easy to understand, self paced, created by experts. Prices range from $89 (for the Ancestry.com Crash Course) to $339 (for the Complete Access Package, including access to any new courses offered in the future). I decided the Complete Access Package was the right choice for me. After registration and payment, access to the courses is immediate. 

Courses include lessons, hands-on activities, quizzes, forms, charts, worksheets and links to valuable research resources. I completed all the courses in my package, and felt much more confident as I set out to restart my tree (for what I've pledged is the final time). While the number of little green leaf hints still makes me anxious sometimes, I now take my time adding people to my tree. I've learned to verify and cross-check information before adding facts and saving records. My organization and search skills have improved dramatically. I scrounge every little scrap of information (no matter how small) from each record because you never know how important one little detail might be or what door it might open when researching in the future. I no longer wonder how/why I added someone to my tree. In short, I'm proud and confident in my tree.

If you're considering taking a course to improve your research skills and genealogy knowledge, I highly recommend the Family History Daily Course Center. Genealogy is a big investment in time and effort (and for some, money). Continually improving your skills and bolstering your knowledge will help you make the most of your genealogy journey. 

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay