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Home > Toward a Better Balance description > Family Folklife Interview > Everyday Life
What kind of apartment or house did your family live in? What was the neighborhood like?
Who slept in what room? What were the busiest places in the house? Why?
Where did the children in the family like to play inside? Where did they like to play outside?
What kind of plants or garden did the family grow? What did they do with the produce? Who worked in the garden? Were any animals (like pigs or chickens) raised for food?
Who lived at your house? Besides the regular family members, what "outsiders" became part of the family? What special names were they called?
What was the family's usual daily schedule? How did everyone spend his/her time at home? In the summer? In the winter?
What were family meals like? What kinds of foods were served? What foods were family favorites? How did they become favorites?
Who prepared, served and cleaned up after daily meals? How did the family decide who did the chores?
Describe any mealtime or clean-up traditions in your family.
What did Saturday mean to the family?
What did Sunday mean?
Did your family belong to a religious group? What religious group did your family belong to? How important was religion in your lives?
How were children trained and disciplined?
What were children's duties at home? How did these increase as children grew older?
What pets were kept? What are the funniest stories about pets in your family? the saddest? the most touching?
What special words, sayings, or nicknames are used in your family? How did they come about? Do any come from your ethnic background?
How was your family like or different from other families in town? Why?
Home > Toward a Better Balance description > Family Folklife Interview > Everyday Life
From Toward a Better Balance: Curriculum Guide for Multicultural Education, Susan K. Donley (Pittsburgh: Pennsylvania Ethnic Heritage Studies Center, 1988) ©1988 Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Used by permission.