Family culture

If we are to be family culture competent, we need to find out how a family operates. Among others, we look at the following areas of focus:
• What parents like most about their children (lookingfor parent preferences and differences).
• We ask what their goals are – what life would look like if things were better.
• We ask parents what their goals for their children are.
• We findout about what they see as their biggest accomplishments.
• We find out what makes them happy.
• We ask what their favorite memories of their families are.
• We find out how the parent is aparent – what they see their best qualities as.
• We find out if the family has special rules.
• We discover who their friends are, who they call when they need help or want to talk, and who theyconsider to be supportive.
• We find out how the family has fun, what they prefer to do.
• We ask about traditions or cultural events that they participate in, and how they do this.
• We findout about special values or beliefs that they learned from their parents or others.
• We ask about their connections to the faith community or if and how they worship





What's Your FamilyCulture?

by ANNKROEKER on JULY 22, 2008 · 4 COMMENTS
You might think I’m asking if you use cloth napkins and dress up for dinner; but I don’t necessarily mean “culture” in the “cultured” sense ofthe word (though that could be part of your answer).

And by “culture,” I’m not asking if your husband is Ecuadorian or Italian; though that, too, could be part of your family culture.

When afriend of mine once said that every family has a “family culture,” I assumed he was referring to his family’s background (he grew up in New Zealand and his wife grew up in Australia; we met them inAmerica) and ours (with The Belgian Wonder adding a dash of European culture to our family unit).

But he explained that he meant it in a broader sense to include values, interests, hobbies, and...