Nothing Ever Stays the Same: Thematic Unit Home Economics ... · PDF file2 Nothing Ever Stays the Same Thematic Unit Home Economics: Family Focus Statements of Minimum Requirement

Home Economics:Family Focus

Learning for Life and Work (MLD)

Nothing Ever Stays the Same:Thematic Unit

Writers’ Group

Nora O Baoil, Fleming Fulton School, Belfast (Editor)Mura Kennedy, Fleming Fulton School, Belfast (Editor)Avril Fryer, Rostulla School, NewtownabbeyRuth McCreadie, Longstone School, BelfastJune Richardson, Cedar Lodge School, BelfastFionnuala Saunders, St Gerard’s Education Resource Centre, BelfastPauline Brady, Rathmore Guidance Centre, AntrimColm Hassan, Belmont School, LondonderryMary Connolly, Erne School, EnniskillenEileen McKeown, Erne School, EnniskillenMary McKendry, Castle Tower School (Loughan Campus), Ballymena

Associate TeachersDenise Maguire, Newtownabbey Educational Guidance CentreBronac O’Connell, Sunlea Educational Guidance Centre, Coleraine

A CCEA Publication ©2009

www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Cover Photograph: Jupiter Images

1 Nothing Ever Stays the Same Thematic Unit Home Economics: Family Focus

Unit Title: Nothing Ever Stays the SameSub Theme: Home Economics: Family Focus

Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities: Working with Others

Curriculum Objective: To develop the young person as a contributor to society

Key Elements: Personal understanding, mutual understanding, personal health, moral character, spiritual awareness, citizenship, ethical awareness, cultural understanding

Attitudes and Dispositions: Personal responsibility, concern for others, openness to new ideas, curiosity, tolerance, integrity-moral courage, respect, community spirit, respect

Learning Experiences: Investigating and problem-solving, linked to other curriculum areas, relevant and enjoyable, offers choice, supportive environment, on going reflection, enquiry-based, challenging and engaging

The Thematic Units connect the Learning for Life and Work subject strands of Personal Development, Local and Global Citizenship, Home Economics and Employability and demonstrate how they contribute to the understanding of a central theme. They provide a number of learning, teaching and assessment activities (and are accompanied by supporting resources) to help you address interpret and develop the Northern Ireland Curriculum’s key elements and Statements of Minimum Requirement.

Each Thematic Unit contributes to the statutory requirement for Learning for Life and Work and also links to other Areas of Learning. In addition, there are opportunities to develop learners’ Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities, incorporate Assessment for Learning principles and make connections to the Cross Curricular Skills.

The units are not intended to be prescriptive and are not the only way to approach the Northern Ireland Curriculum. You do not have to follow them rigidly. Instead, we encourage you to choose from the wide range of learning, teaching and assessment activities in the units and adapt and extend them as appropriate for your classes.

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Nothing Ever Stays the Same Thematic Unit Home Economics: Family Focus

Statements of Minimum Requirement

These are the Statements of Minimum Requirement that are addressed in this unit:

Home EconomicsHome and Family LifeInvestigate some of the changing needs of family members at different stages of the life cycle

Home EconomicsHealthy LivingExplore ways to achieve a healthy diet

Home EconomicsHome and Family LifeExplore the roles and responsibilities of individuals within a variety of home and family structures

Home EconomicsHome and Family LifeDevelop awareness of parenting skills


Communication -read a range of texts for information, ideas and enjoyment

Understand how actions and words affect others

Key Question Learning IntentionLearners will have opportunities to …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and Capabilities

What is a family? … explore and appreciate different family structures.

Discuss together what the term family means to different people? Explain that all families are special and can be described in different ways:– An extended family consists of three or more generations living in the same

household. This could mean grandparents, aunts, cousins or other members of a family.

– A nuclear family is two generations of family members, usually parents and their children.

– A single parent family is a single parent and dependent children. – Step-families are a type of family that involves parents, children of either partner

from a first marriage and often children from the present marriage. (At least one in fourteen children live with step-parents.)

Create a collage of photos of different families using magazines, catalogues, the internet, etc. Include as many different family structures and ethnic groups as possible.

Then, invite your learners to describe orally what they see. Record feedback on the board and discuss outcomes. Together, discuss the fact that to outsiders there can be very little difference visually between nuclear, adoptive and step families.Reinforce that although families can be different, each is special. Next, divide your learners into small groups and have them fill in the table in Resource 1.

Resource 1: About Our Families

•magazinesandcatalogues

Resource Sheet in this booklet

Online Activity (OA) or PowerPoint Activity (PP) available from www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Skills tabs printed in orange are Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities

Skills tabs printed in yellow are Cross Curricular Skills

Communication -listen to and take part in discussions, explanations, role-plays and presentations

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Using Mathematics –read, interpret, organise and presentinformation in mathematical formats

Communication –develop, express and present ideas in a variety of forms and formats, using traditional and digital resources, for differentaudiences and purposes



What is a family? … explore and appreciate different family structures.

Use Resource 2 to record the differences in family size in your class. Have your learners create the bar graph to show these differences graphically.

Resource2:FamilySizes

Introduce your learners to words used to describe family members. Ask them to call out as many names as they can think of (for example mum, dad, sister, brother, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin). Then, have them complete Resource 3 to identify the relationships in their family.

Resource 3: Who’s Who?

Allow your learners to use Resource 4 to construct a simple family tree. This could be done in class or as a home assignment. To consolidate this knowledge, ask your learners to create a book about their families using the PowerPoint.

Resource 4: My Family Tree

PP: My Family E-book


Communication –read a range of texts for information, ideas and enjoyment

Develop routines of turn-taking, sharing andcooperating

Communication –listen to and take part in discussions, explanations, role plays and presentations



Why is a family important?

… examine how a family helps to fulfil our physical and emotional needs.

Explore with your learners the many functions a family has to cover, for example:– Loving: providing a caring stable environment in which children can develop;– Economic: providing financial support and teaching money management;– Protective: giving support to all the family;– Social: helping young people to fit into society and helping them to be good citizens;– Educational: providing a background where everyone can learn;– Emotional: nurturing healthy relationships; and– Reproductive: having children.

Next, reflect with your learners how they have changed since babyhood. Examine:– how their physical skills have developed (for example walking, running, playing

football and swimming);– how their mental skills have developed (for example speaking, reading, solving

problems and thinking things through); and– their emotional and social development skills (for example knowing how to be a

good friend and not crying if you don’t get first).

Explain that the period from birth to death is called the lifecycle and that there are six stages: baby, toddler, child, adolescent, adult and elderly. Talk to your learners about the constant change in families as family members go through various stages of the lifecycle. Discuss the stages at which we are dependent on others.

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Communication -develop, express and present ideas in a variety of forms and formats, using traditional and digital resources, for differentaudiences and purposes



Why is a family important?

… examine how a family helps to fulfil our physical and emotional needs.

Finally, using Resource 5 and magazine images, allow your learners in groups or pairs to create a lifecycle collage. Afterwards, divide your learners into six groups to represent each of the stages in the lifecycle. Allow each group to choose a leader (who will act out the role play of a person in that lifecycle). Have the other groups ask the leader questions from Resource 6, but encourage them to think of their own as well. Then, have them guess what stage of the lifecycle is being role played.

Resource 5: Lifecycle

Resource 6: Role Play Questions

• magazinesandcatalogues

As well as looking after your needs, families can teach and form good habits, healthy lifestyles, attitudes and responsibility. Discuss with your learners some of the positive habits they adopted from home.


Using Mathematics –read, interpret, organise and present information in mathematical formats

Communication – develop, express and present ideas in a variety of forma and formats

Listen actively and share opinions

Using ICT – access and manage data and information



What types of food do families eat?

… investigate factors that influence diet.

Today’s families eat varied diets that are shaped by a lot of influences. Explore the topic by showing the Family Eating PowerPoint to your learners.

Afterwards, ask your learners: In what ways do you think television and advertising have changed our eating habits?

Explain to them that many mothers work full-time nowadays. How would this affect the foods families eat?

Some supermarkets now sell a huge range of different foods (for example kangaroo steaks, wild boar burgers and crocodile). How many families try these foods? Or do we tend to eat traditional foods (for example stew and fish and chips).

Develop the discussion by asking your learners what kind of food they eat on holiday. If they were in France, would they eat frogs’ legs and snails or would they look for more familiar foods?

Then, ask your learners how many of them have eaten in a Thai, Chinese, Indian, Mexican restaurant, etc. What did they think of the food?

PP: Family Eating

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Investigate together your learner’s family food likes/dislikes and list these on the board.

You can make links to Using Mathematics by creating a bar chart to highlight the most popular food choices.

From the findings, discuss which foods are healthy and unhealthy. Explain the implications of unhealthy eating to your learners (for example obesity, heart problems and high blood pressure).

Record cookery programmes from TV. Show these to your learners to highlight the need to eat healthy foods such as vegetables and fruit, and the importance of having a low salt, sugar and fat intake.

As a class, develop a cookbook. Highlight that recipes need to be healthy, relatively easy to prepare, have versatile ingredients and appeal to a family group. Include traditional local recipes (for example stews, fruit crumble and local breads) and recipes from other countries (for example Italian, Thai, Indian and Mexican). Provide a selection of cookbooks or recipe websites for your learners to select recipes from. Alternatively, encourage them to share a family recipe.

Give your learners a copy of the cookbook to take home. Explain that helping to prepare these healthy recipes at home is a good way to influence their family’s diet.• cookbooks

Refer to these web links for information, games and recipes:www.foodafactoflife.org.ukwww.nutrition.org.uk Go to Education then to Cook Club.






As an extension activity, you could allow your learners to work in groups or independently to collect a number of family recipes and create a family cookbook. See Resource 7.

Some of your learners could extend this activity by interviewing their grandparents or an older person about popular and unpopular foods in their youth. Have them make an audio recording or take notes of the interview. Ask them to present their findings to the rest of the class as a short talk or PowerPoint presentation.

Resource 7: Family Cookbook

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Respect the views and opinions of others, reaching agreements using negotiation and comprise

Communication –contribute comments, ask questions and respond to others’ points of view



Who does what in your house?

… explore how roles and responsibilities have changed.

Discuss with your class the ways in which family life has changed over the last 50 years. Explain that the traditional role for the man was to supply the only income, be the disciplinarian and to make all the major decisions for his family. The woman was expected to take care of the home and look after the children and her husband. These roles have now merged, reversed or are the sole responsibility of one parent. Next, divide the class into groups to explore why the changes have come about. Put the following questions on the board to help prompt group discussion:– Why do men and women have different roles in the family now?– Who in your house has a job? Why?– Are all the chores in your house still done by hand? Why or why not?– Are all aunties and grown-up women you know married? Why not? Who takes

care of them?

Use Resource 8 to draw all the factors together as a class.

Resource 8: Changing Roles

Have your learners consider the roles performed in their homes by working through Resource 9. Then have them complete Resource 10 to look specifically at the jobs they do themselves within the home.

Resource 9: Who Does What In Your House?

Resource 10: What Do I Do In The House?


Communication – develop, express and present ideas in a variety of forms and formats

Using ICT – research, select, process and interpret information

Adapt behaviour and language to suit different people and situations




Do people from the same group always act the same way?

… develop an awareness of gender stereotyping.

Explain to your class the concept of stereotyping: putting people into groups and expecting them all to be a certain type of person or behave in a certain way. For example, all nurses are female and all football fans are hooligans. Encourage them to come up with some other common stereotypes and record theses on a flip chart.

Next, ask your learners: What does it mean to act like a man? Look at the stereotype examples of what boys shouldn’t do in Resource 11 and discuss as a class. What names are boys who act like this often called?

Repeat the stereotype exercise for girls by looking at examples of what girls shouldn’t do in Resource 12.

Finally, use the PowerPoint below to reinforce learning about stereotypes.

Resource 11: Act Like A Man

Resource 12: Be Ladylike

PP: Talking About Stereotyping

Further Suggestions For an extension exercise, look at how fathers are portrayed on TV. Give each learner a copy of Resource 13 and, over a period of one week, have them record what they think are examples of good and bad dads from TV. Then, have your learners share their observations in a class discussion.

You could also have them search the internet for information on stereotyping and have them individually or in groups create a poster or pamphlet containing appropriate information.

Resource 13: Television Dads

• artmaterials


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Listen actively and share opinions

Communication – listen to and take part in discussions, explanations, role plays and presentations



Is my role in the family changing?

… develop an awareness of role and responsibility changes.

Explain to your learners that good relationships are built on mutual support and respect within the family. Everyone has a role to play in helping each other and should feel they can rely on one another. Explain that until the adolescent years, children are very dependent on their families for all their needs. However, it can be a difficult stage for both adolescents and parents as young people move into adulthood. The young person is undergoing many physical and emotional changes, and their peers have a strong influence on them.

As a class, discuss how your learners see their roles within their family changing. For example, are they now expected to take on extra responsibilities, such as baby sitting, household chores and making simple meals?

Record both the positive and negative ways expectations are changing. Likewise, are they now trusted to do things and go places that they weren’t permitted when they were young?

Next, discuss peer pressure. Use a white board to record positive and negative influences of peer pressure from your learners. Examine whether this puts a strain on their expected role in the family.

Emphasise to learners that their roles and responsibilities will continue to change throughout life. Use Resource 14 to highlight that they may in the future have a caring role for their parents.

Resource 14: Elderly Family


Communication – listen to and take part in discussions, explanations, role plays and presentations

Using ICT – research, select, process andinterpret information

Take personal responsibility for work with others and evaluate own contribution to the group




Is it difficult to be a parent/carer?

… explore the skills, attitudes and behaviours needed for good parenting.

Talk to your learners about how parents/carers are responsible for a child’s physical, intellectual, social and emotional needs.

Explain how attitudes and values are learnt from parents/carers and that, by setting a good example, children can learn to be fair, confident, respectful, kind and patient from their parents. Add that, unfortunately, children can also learn intolerance, aggression, condemnation and bigotry from parents/carers.

Using the Parents/Carers PowerPoint, discuss the range of influences and responsibilities that parents/carers have for their children. It may be useful to use role play before the PowerPoint if learners need help to understand what parents/carers need to cope with. Discuss with the group the most common causes of conflict between them and their parents/carers (for example coming in late, untidy bedrooms and mobile phone use). Record the feedback and decide on role plays.

PP: Parents/Carers

Further SuggestionsAs an extension activity, encourage your learners to investigate different families that they are familiar with from books, television, magazines, etc. Then as groups or individually, get them to create a poster, poem, short story, comic strip, PowerPoint, etc. of one family’s background and structure. Finally, have them present this to the rest of the class.


Resources15

Resources


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About Our Families

Working in small groups, fill in the table below.

Resource 1

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How many people are in your family?

How many children are there in your

family?

How many generations of

people live in your house?

Name something special about your

family

My familyBoys Girls

A friend’s family

My family is different from my friend’s in the following ways:

[Example] I am an only child – my friend has two sisters.

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

My family is the same as my friend’s family in the following ways:

[Example] We both live in Belfast.

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


Resource 2Family Sizes

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Using the information to the left, use this bar graph to showthenumberofclassmatesandtheirfamilysizes.

Family SizeNumber of

classmates with each family size

2

3

4

5

6

more than 6

How many members do you have in your family? How many family members do your classmates have? Complete this chart to show how many family members your classmates have. 12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

2 3 4 5 6 more than 6

Family Members

Clas

smat

es


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Who’s Who?

Do you know how everyone in your family is related? Can you fill in the blanks in the sentences below? Use the words provided to help with spelling – remember they will need to be used more than once.

Resource 3

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grandfather grandmother aunt uncle cousins

My mother’s mother is my

My mother’s father is my

My father’s father is my

My father’s mother is my

My mother’s brother is my

My mother’s sister is my

My father’s brother is my

My father’s sister is my

My aunt’s children are my

My uncle’s children are my


Resource 4My Family Tree

Grandmother Grandfather Grandmother Grandfather

Mother Father

Me


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Lifecycle

Cut out and paste in a photo of each stage of the lifecycle. Use the magazines provided or print images from the internet.

Resource 5

Which stage of the lifecycle are you at?

Can you name a member of your family for all the stages in the diagram?

Baby Toddler

Elderly Child

Adult Adolescent


Resource 6Role Play Questions

Ask the role play leader the following questions. Come up with your own questions and fill them into the blank spaces.

What is your favourite food?

What clothes do you like to wear?

How do you let other people know that you are in pain?

What do you do when you are happy?

What music do you like?

What TV programmes do you watch?

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Family CookbookAlmost every family has a treasured recipe that reminds them of family get-togethers or a special festivity. You may have many such recipes handed down through generations, taught to children or hidden away on index cards or scraps of paper. Ask your parents, carers, grannies, grandads, aunties or uncles to help you collect the recipes.

Use the fill-in-the-blank recipe cards to remind people not to leave out important information like the cooking temperature. Encourage your family to include a brief story about the recipe’s creator or a favourite family memory. You may also want to ask why they chose the particular recipe.

Resource 7

Recipe: ....................................................................................................................................................................................

Shared by: ............................................................................................................................................................................

Recipe History/Why it’s Special: ..................................................................................................................

Serves: ................................................................ Oven Temp: ...................................................................

Ingredients:

.............................................................................................. .....................................................................................................

.............................................................................................. .....................................................................................................

.............................................................................................. .....................................................................................................

.............................................................................................. .....................................................................................................

Instructions: .....................................................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Resource 8Changing Roles

SCHOOL

Equal opportunities for women, especially in education.

Smaller families – parents often choose to have a small family.

Technological advances have helped within the home and work, such as microwaves, shopping online, the washing machine and the tumble dryer. Working from home has also become easier with computers/internet.

Care outside the home is now available for children and the elderly.

Divorce is easier and there is an increase in the number of single parents.

Women are more independent and do not always feel the need to get married. They own their own homes and have good jobs.

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Who Does What In Your House?

Put a tick beside the name of the person who does each role.

Resource 9

Role/Responsibility MUM DAD CARER GRAND-

PARENT SISTER BROTHER ME OTHER

washing dishes

ironing

mowing lawn

hanging up clothes

shopping

hoovering

cooking

setting table

making beds

painting

plumbing

dusting


Resource 10What Do I Do In The House?

Put a tick beside the tasks you perform in your house.

Role/Responsibility What Jobs Do I Do In The House?

washing dishes

ironing

mowing lawn

hanging up clothes

shopping

hoovering

cooking

setting table

making beds

painting

plumbing

dusting

What else could I do in the house?

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Act Like A Man

Boys are told from a young age what it means to “act like a man”. Below are examples of things some people believe boys are not supposed to do. Do you agree with these ideas? Would you think less of a boy because he cried when something sad happened?

Resource 11

Boys do not

Cook at home

Cry

Help at home

Knit

Wash dishes

Hold hands

Play with dolls

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Resource 12Be Ladylike

Below are examples of things some people believe girls are not supposed to do. Do you agree with these ideas? If a girl likes to play football, is she different? Should girls always be neat, polite and agreeable?

Girls do not

Come first

Hit others

Play football

Mow the lawn

Do DIY

Fight Climb trees

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Television Dads

During one week, watch television and look for examples of good and bad dads in programmes and advertisements. Record your ideas in the columns below.

Resource 13

Good examples Bad examples

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Resource 14Elderly Family

As parents age and become less able to look after themselves, their children have to consider whether they can help. Answer the questions below to get an understanding of the elderly in your family.

1. Who are my elderly relatives? ........................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

2. What are their needs at the current time? ...............................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

3. What are their needs going to be a year from now? In five years? ..............................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

4. How will their needs change in the future? .............................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

5. What family help is available now? ..............................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Employability:It’s Up to Me

Learning for Life and Work (MLD)

Nothing Ever Stays the Same:Thematic Unit

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Nothing Ever Stays the Same: Thematic Unit Home Economics ... · PDF file2 Nothing Ever Stays the Same Thematic Unit Home Economics: Family Focus Statements of Minimum Requirement