Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Partner: ______________
Directions: Part 1 is the four jobs every family does. Part 2 is the structures chart; fill the example column as we go. Part 3 is twelve scenarios to match. Part 4 is the compare box. Part 5 is the family life cycle and transitions. Every family in this handout is fictional. Nobody is asked to write about their own family.
Part 1: What every family does
A family is defined by what it does, not by who is in it.
| Job | What it means | An example from a show, a book, or a game |
|---|---|---|
| Care | Keeps you safe and fed | |
| Teach | Rules, language, how to treat people | |
| Provide | A home, food, clothes, money | |
| Belong | You are theirs and they are yours |
A relationship is a connection between people with expectations on both sides. A family is a set of relationships with the four jobs attached. The state calls the family "the basic unit of society": society is built from families the way a wall is built from bricks.
Part 2: The structures chart
| Structure | What it means | Example (fictional) |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclear | Two parents and their children | |
| Single parent | One parent and their children | |
| Blended | Two families joined; step-parents and step-siblings | |
| Extended | Grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins in the home or close by and part of daily life | |
| Adoptive | A child legally joined to a family that is not their birth family | |
| Foster | A family caring for a child placed with them for a time by the state | |
| Grandparents raising grandchildren | Grandparents who are the daily caregivers | |
| Guardian | An adult who is legally responsible for a child but is not a parent | |
| Others | Two moms or two dads; a parent who is deployed; a family split between two countries; a family with a close friend who is "like an aunt" |
Every one of these is a family because every one of them does the four jobs.
Structure names in other languages:
| English | Turkish | Portuguese | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| nuclear family | çekirdek aile | família nuclear | familia nuclear |
| single parent family | tek ebeveynli aile | família monoparental | familia monoparental |
| blended family | birleşik aile | família reconstituída | familia ensamblada |
| extended family | geniş aile | família extensa | familia extensa |
| adoptive family | evlat edinen aile | família adotiva | familia adoptiva |
| guardian | vasi | responsável legal | tutor |
Part 3: Scenario match
Write the structure each scenario shows. Some fit two; write both.
| # | Scenario | Structure(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leo lives with his mom and dad and his little sister. | |
| 2 | Amara lives with her dad. Her mom lives in another state and she visits in the summer. | |
| 3 | Theo's mom married a man with two daughters. Now all five live together. | |
| 4 | Nadia lives with her grandmother and her grandmother's sister, who have raised her since she was two. | |
| 5 | Sam was adopted as a baby by two parents who could not have children. | |
| 6 | Omar lives with his parents, his grandfather, and his aunt in one apartment. His grandfather walks him to school. | |
| 7 | Ruby has lived with the same foster family for a year while her mom gets help. | |
| 8 | Kai lives with his older brother, who is 24 and is his legal guardian. | |
| 9 | Ines lives with her mom and brother. Her dad works in another country, sends money home, and calls every night. | |
| 10 | Jordan lives with his two dads. | |
| 11 | Maya's mom is deployed overseas. Maya lives with her dad and her grandmother moved in to help. | |
| 12 | Diego's dad remarried, and his stepmom's parents live next door and pick him up from school every day. |
Part 4: Compare two structures
Structure 1: ______________________ Structure 2: ______________________
One way they are alike: ________________________________________________
One way they are different: ________________________________________________
One role that might differ (who cooks, who signs the permission slip, who you go to when you are sick): ________________________________________________
Part 5: The family life cycle and transitions
The life cycle is a loop, not a ladder.
| Stage | What is happening |
|---|---|
| Forming | Two people or one person decide to make a home |
| Growing | A child comes: by birth, adoption, or fostering |
| School years | Children in school; the family runs on a schedule |
| Teen years | Children becoming independent; rules change |
| Launching | A young adult leaves |
| Later years | A couple or a single adult again; often grandparents |
Transitions can happen at any stage: a move, a new sibling, a job change or a job lost, a divorce or a separation, a death, a new country.
A transition changes the shape. It does not un-family the family.
Pick one scenario from Part 3 and one transition. Scenario ____ Transition: ______________________
What changes: ________________________________________________
What stays the same: ________________________________________________
Stretch: Why is the life cycle drawn as a loop and not a line? ________________________________________________
Exit card: 3-2-1 (on the index card)
3 structures from memory. 2 of the four jobs. 1 sentence: "No one family structure is better than another because ___" with an example from a scenario, not a real family.