The Family Stories That Bind Us

After reading the story " The Family Stories That Bind Us" it opened up my eyes to what I want to do with my family one day. This study done shows that children who spend time with their parents and siblings have a closer family and have a greater chance of remaining close. It is important to eat dinner together every night and talk about lives ups and downs. It should be okay to talk about your day and know that no one is going to belittle you and put you down. A child needs to feel comfortable with their family and not think their a failure or the only one who is going through a bad time. A family should point out both the positives and negatives in their lives by telling their children their success stories but also telling them things were not always perfect. Children will take less blame on themselves if they feel it is okay to mess up sometimes. They should not have to feel like they need to be perfect. As a parent it is important to show as well as tell your children that you can not give up and need to just keep going and trying no matter how hard life gets. Life throws random curves at you and you can't just give up. Children need to know they can talk and express their emotions out loud with their families and not just friends. An open line of communication is very important. The study also proves that knowing the background history of your family or any important interest, helps make an in depth connection to that interest. Children should absolutely know about their parents life history as well as their grandparents. This shows they are bonding and sharing different life experiences they have lived through. Parents and children should not be living different lives, parents should know exactly what their child is going through so that they can be there to help support them in any way possible.

An activity that I would create in my sixth grade classroom would be, to have my students go home and interview their parents and grandparents. The students will have to ask them when did they come to America? What was it like for them growing up in America? How were they treated where they grew up and went to school? Did they feel as if they struggled? What was the biggest thing they ever had to overcome?  and as an adult now how do they feel when they look back. I would also have my students ask their parents and grandparents, When you felt like giving up, why didn't you? What made you believe in yourself and allow you to become who you are today? After my students came back with these answers I would have them write in their journals what they have learned and if things make more "sense" now. I would ask my students to include in their journal what inspired them about their parents or grandparents and what they got out of this interview. I feel like this will help my students understand their families better and about the hardships they have went through. Even though the hard times their parents or grandparents went through may be different than what they consider a hard time, hopefully they will still be able to connect and relate. A lot of times young children think adults have everything so easy because they have no idea about life in itself. This activity will help broaden my students knowledge and understanding about their own families. Hopefully this activity will also bring my students closer to their families and have more respect for them.