Genealogy for beginners

Build a family history you can actually finish.

Step-by-step lessons lead you to a six-generation family tree you can print, share, and pass down—with clear guidance on the next record to search. Not a database. Not a hosted tree.

Enter your email. We will send the free six-generation family tree chart. Unsure how to fill it in? Full Access includes How to Complete a Family Tree Chart.

A nineteenth-century family portrait resting on handwritten letters, with an olive sprig and fountain pen

The sites

Genealogy sites give you millions of records.

The path

A beginner needs to know which one to look at next.

Start with one person you already know. Research in FamilySearch, Ancestry, ScotlandsPeople, and Fold3 while the course guides you step by step. The sites hold the records. The course gives you the path.

FamilySearch
Ancestry
ScotlandsPeople
Fold3

The path

A tree, and the names that fill it.

A brass compass on a worn county map beside index cards and a cloth measuring tape — Twenty-one lessons in one order of work. A chart that stays on your desk, and printable resources waiting when you start filling names.

Lessons 01–03
Start
Facts, first person, a place for names.
Lessons 04–12
Search
Names, places, local through national records.
Lessons 13–16
Keep
Letters, societies, GEDCOM, and DNA.
Lessons 17–21
Scotland
Included in Full Access. Not a separate upsell.

The kit

Print it. Fill it. Keep it.

Start with the free six-generation chart. The Lessons tab shows a sample of the first three lessons. Full Access has all 21, plus How to Complete a Family Tree Chart and the research forms.

A sample of the first three lessons

Lesson 1
The Big Five
The facts worth writing down first.
20 min
Lesson 2
First Steps
Start with one person you already know.
18 min
Lesson 3
Getting Organized
A place for names before the hunt.
18 min

Then 18 more in Full Access.

Twenty-one lessons in all. These three show the start of the path. Names, places, local through national records, DNA, and ScotlandsPeople unlock with Full Access when you are ready to fill the chart.

Full Access

$9 to finish what you started.

Start with the free six-generation family tree chart. When you're ready to fill it in, one $9 payment unlocks How to Complete a Family Tree Chart, the complete step-by-step guide, all 21 lessons, and every printable resource. No subscription. No tiers. No recurring charge.

Olive sprigs on torn handmade paper over a deep navy cloth

Take the free chart home tonight.

Enter your email and we will send the six-generation family tree. Print it, write the names you already know, and keep it. Need help with the blanks? How to Complete a Family Tree Chart is waiting in Full Access.