Consider...Families

Josef lives with his mother and auntie.

Aisha lives with her father, step-mother and older brother. Every other weekend Aisha visits her mother, stepdad and two older stepsisters.

Sonya lives with her grandmother and visits her dad the fourth Sunday of every month.

Aiden lives with his mother and father and soon will have a new baby sister.

Sally lives with her two dads, Joseph and William.

Families come in all shapes and sizes. Most Canadian children live in families but the composition of families varies. In some families, children live with their mother, father and siblings while others live in lone parent families or extended families. Extended (or joint) families consist of other kin, including different generations, living together as a family. Many children are living in families with two same-sex parents.

Five-year-old Gurdeep is starting kindergarten. On his first day, he wanders into the block corner. On the shelf is a large wicker basket with numerous small figures. Gurdeep pulls the basket off the shelf. He starts to pull out the figures – there are men, women, and children. Some of the adults are older. Gurdeep begins to gather a group of figures together. He includes two older women, one adult younger woman, two men and three child figures. Next, he starts to build a structure around the figures with blocks. As his teacher approaches, Gurdeep says “Look what I can do. There are enough adults to make my family. Sometimes I live with my mom, grandma and my sister and sometimes with my dad and Mabel and my two brothers. And in the summer, I go to Nana’s house.”