NORTHWESTERN

UNIVERSITY

LEARNING COMPETENCIES:
1. appraise one’s family structure and the type of care he/she gives and receives,
which may help in understanding himself/herself better
2. make a genogram and trace certain physical, personality, or behavioral attributes
through generations
3. prepare a plan on how to make the family members firmer and gentler with each
other

MODULE 10: Family Structures and Legacies

INTRODUCTION:  

Children grow up in many different structures of families, and at different times in their
lives, their family structures may change. For young children, the family in which they live is the
“normal” family. It is when children enter group programs outside their homes that they
discover there are many kinds of families.

One of the most important tasks for early childhood educators is to treat each child’s
family with respect and help each child’s family with respect and help each child feel proud and
strong about it. It is important to learn about many structures of families and to realize that
different families may have quite different issues, needs, strengths, and values.

The following terms may help you to think carefully and respectfully about each family
structure. They are not exclusive as several terms may apply to any family at the same time. It
is important to find out right away which term’s each family uses to name itself, and to use the
terms that the family chooses.

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Checkpoint:

Direction: Write at least 5 ways how to make a family members firmer and gentler with
another

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Family Structures and Legacies

What is Family?

The family is seen as a social institution that has certain important roles for the society
(Lamanna and Riedmann, 2009), such as meeting the needs of its members and enabling
society to survive through its members who contribute significantly to the community.
It is acts as unit of economic cooperation and consumptions, where earning family
members share in the expenses of the whole family.
A family is a group of people who related by marriage, blood, adoption, live together,
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and share in the finance of its member (Thomas, 2010)

A family is a cherished cluster of two or more people who

o Live together in a dedicated relationship
o Concern for one another and children
o Share activities and close emotional ties.

Family compositions and structures from historical and cultural perspective.

The traditional family structure is considered a family support system which involves two
married individuals providing care and stability for their biological offspring.
1. Nuclear family

 The sharing of two generations of family members

under the same roof
 It comprises father, mother and children

2. Extended family

 It commonly consist of three or more

generations living in the same
household or very close immediacy.
 It is also referred as “vertically extended
group” type of family
 It composed of two or more nuclear
family units
 Although grandparents are usually the
extended members of the family

3. Single-Parent Families

 A single person plus dependent children

 This kind of family is “broken nuclear” family
 This family structure is distinguished into four
main factor:

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a. An increase in the number of people annulling their marriage or
through legal separation
b. The removal of most of the social stigma formerly involved in pregnancy outside
marriage
c. The demise of a marriage partner
d. The choice of not to get married but yet to play the role of parent in the course
of an adoption

4. Reconstituted Families (Step-families)

 This form of family unit is one of

the effects of soaring rates of
annulments, legal separation and
remarriage or cohabitation.
 This is where stepmothers and
stepfathers head the family.
 This family is typically nuclear in
form and involves parents, children of either spouse from a first marriage and
(possibly) children from their present marriage.

5. Adoptive family

 A couple who wants to take good care of a child born to others commits legally to
raise and provide for the child.

6. Bi-racial or multi-racial family

 A family where the parents are members of different racial identity groups

7. Trans-racial adoptive family

 A family where the adopted child is of a different racial identity group than the
parents.

8. Blended family

 A Family that consist of two or more previous families

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9. Conditionally separated families

 A family member is separated from the rest of the family.

 This may be due to employment, military service, hospitalization etc.

10. Gay or lesbian family

 A family where one both of the parents’ sexual orientation is gay or lesbian

11. Immigrant family

 A family where the parents have immigrated to another country as adults.

 Their children may or may not be immigrants.

12. Migrant family

 A family that moves regularly to place where they have employment.

Family Legacies
Legacy is about life and living. It is about learning from the past, living in the present,
and building for the future.
Family legacy means the undertakings, values, actions, and guidance we demonstrate in
our lives. These essentials of family legacy are the turning point for current and future
generations.
A heritage, it is a social, emotional, and spiritual legacy passed on from parents to their
children.

The Emotional Legacy

A strong emotional legacy:
 Provides a safety environment in which deep emotional roots can grow.
 Promotes self-assurance through steadiness
 Communicates a nature of trusting support
 Cultivates a sturdy sense of optimistic characters
 Displays unreserved and unconditional love
In order to prosper, our children need an enduring sense of security and stability
nurtures in an environment of safety and love.
The Social Legacy

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to really succeed in life, our children need to learn more than
management techniques, accounting, reading, writing and geometry. They need to learn the
fine art of relating to people.
Key elements of social legacy include:
 Respect – starting with themselves and working it out with other people
 Responsibility – cultivated by respect for parents and developed by handing over to
children, sense of duty inside the family, making them answerable for their actions, and
giving them space to make inappropriate choices at times.
 Unconditional love and approval- parents, mixed with provisional approval when parents
discipline children for bad behavior or actions.
 The setting of social limitations – relating to God, authority, the people around and
siblings
 Rules – that are given inside an affectionate relationship

The Spiritual Legacy

Parents who effectively pass on a spiritual legacy to their children form and strengthen
the unnoticed certainties of the Godly life. The church us there to support parents in rearing
their children. The same opinion applies to spiritual matters. Parents are most important in
religious nurturing. This is especially true when considering that children, particularly the young
ones, perceiving God the way they perceive their parents. As parents, we need to take the
initiative and present our faith to our children

Handling Family Stressors Maintaining Healthy Family Relationships

Family Stressors
 An additional to the family member
 The loss of a family member
 Sudden and unexpected changes in the family
 Conflict in the family
 Family member is sick
 Family experiences demoralizing events
 Daily family hassles

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The factors that makes families resilient in the midst of adversity are the following:
 A positive outlook
 Spiritual values and support groups
 Open, supportive communication
 Adaptability
 Informal social support

Activity: My Family Genogram: Understanding Where I Came From

A genogram is a representation of your family tree that makes use of graphs and
symbols. It shows some pieces of information about the family members, their relationship with
one another, and the hereditary patterns that prominent in the family.
This activity aims to give you an opportunity to make your family diagram, which will
allow you to race certain physical, personality, and/or behavioral attributes that you possess,
which are similar with your family member(s). The output will also serve as your basis to
understand yourself better

Instructions:
1. In a clean bond paper, make a genogram of your family, starting with maternal and
paternal grandparents. Include your uncles, aunts and cousins. Write their names below
the symbols.
2. Use a square to denote a male family member and a circle for female family member.
Place a male at the left of the female if married or if they are cohabitating. Draw a line
to signify marriage or a broken line to show cohabitation. If the couple got separated,
mark it with one slashed line (/)
3. Place the children from oldest to youngest or from left to right below the marriage line.
4. The death of a family member is indicated by an (x) through the shape.

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Example of Genogram

Resources: Reference Book and

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References:
Cleofe, M.P. (2016). Personal Development. Diwa Learning Systems Inc.
Pablo, V.M.G.H. (2016) Personal Development. Scolaire Publishing
https://prezi.com/ynpaly24_9or/module-11-family-structures-and-legacies/

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