Helping kids understand about all kinds of family structures
That's a Family! is an entertaining documentary that breaks new ground in helping children in grades K-8 understand the different shapes families take today.
With courage and humor, the children in That's a Family! take viewers on a tour through their lives as they speak candidly about what it's like to grow up in a family with parents of different races or religions, divorced parents, a single parent, gay or lesbian parents, adoptive parents or grandparents as guardians. This award-winning film will stretch your mind and touch your heart no matter what your age.
That's a Family! comes with an extensive discussion and teaching guide, which includes lesson plans to use with the video, suggestions for facilitating classroom discussion at different grade levels, and additional resources for teachers, families and children.
Schools and community groups may also sign up for training on how to use That's a Family! as a diversity teaching tool with young children.
Recommended for students in grades 1 through 6.
The money....
Family Diversity Projects (FDP) is a non-profit organization 501(c)3, which depends on grants and individual donations to help fund our annual budget. This past funding cycle (2002-2004), FDP received generous grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (a state agency), the Gill Foundation, the Icarus Foundation, and the AEC Family Foundation, as well as gifts from many individual donors.
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"That's a Family!" was directed by Chasnoff and produced by Helen S. Cohen. It teaches about diversity in a straightforward way--by letting children talk about their families, which include grandparents raising their grandchildren, divorced parents, multiracial households, single mothers and fathers, adoptive families and gay couples. A child's-eye tour of various family structures, the video aims to give all young people a chance to feel visible--to let them talk about their families as a foundation for understanding differences of all kinds. As Emily Fong, a third grader, explains when describing her mixed race family, "You don't have to be a rat to marry a rat. You can be a rat and marry a mouse." Bit by bit, Cohen and Chasnoff hope to uproot prejudice before it has a chance to grow.
