Reply #15...too much to quote/edit...
I agree with FH being a great way of learning many aspects.
I know more about Geography/History/Sociology etc. through my interest in Genealogy than I ever learned at school.
PharmaT...Children could be given the choice of researching a Family Member, Popstar/Filmstar, Inventor etc. i.e. it would not affect any personal issues.
I found History/Geography vey boring & uninteresting as I couldn't relate to either the people or the places (much I didn't believe) whereas when doing my Family Tree, I was able to associate names/places/occupations etc. i.e. it's far easier to learn by association as I have found although there are of course the people who had/have an interest in History/Geography by default 
Annie
To avoid singling children out and avoid accidental damage eg my daughter would want to research her family but if she contacted her grandfather that would put her in danger. She is still too young to fully understand why it would be dangerous. I think the best compromise would be getting
all the children to chose someone famous or renowned to research. It also does not cover the expense of research. My kids would be OK as I can give them piles of documents that I have saved up but what about others who are only starting out?
I very much understand the depth of life and the world around us and how much of that can be explored as part of family history research but I am also aware of the depth and variety in all the different subjects. Family history is wonderful (wouldn't have it as a hobby otherwise), you can learn a lot about a lot of things but in no way should it be the entire curriculum. Maybe a term project. Whilst family history can bring things alive for students by allowing them to relate to their own family, focusing education solely on this holds the risk of narrowing education to only what that individuals family has experienced. Remember some people will descend from a long line that has settled in a small area limiting the places studied by them. Our ancestors may have shaped us but their experience should not constrain us.
The current curriculum is rather broad, in Scotland at least as I cannot comment on elsewhere as I have insufficient experience of their curricula. My older daughter is only 13 but so far her education has included: how voting systems operate (the mechanics and laws), laws surrounding refugees and wrote an in depth analysis of the Rohingya Crisis, UN Convention on human rights, Chinese one child policy, CPC, debate on death penalty, tectonic plates, natural disasters (inc hurricanes, earthquakes, eruptions), sea levels, erosion, cell structure and differentiation, DNA structure, chi square analysis of probability of inheriting aa trait, DNA extraction techniques, PCR (not in depth yet), inherited illnesses and mutations (in trisomies and translocations), Scottish wars of independence, holocaust, assassination of JFK, periodic table, a 10K word project on the structure of the universe and solar system and "is there life elsewhere" which included studying measurement and analysis techniques, chemical reactions and how to represent as formulae, algebra, trigonometry, probability, statistics (eg sample size selection), a wide range of literature and poetry from Shakespeare to present day, anatomy and physiology (in dissection), cookery, food hygiene, insight into all religions. This is not a comprehensive list, she has covered so much more ad still has 4 more years at school.
