With school back in session, kids who are adopted or in foster care may be facing another round of questions about their lives and origins as they meet new friends and settle in with new teachers.
In her Examiner.com article, "'Back to School' can bring up new questions,' Kelly Conley has pulled together a comprehensive set of resources from Adoptive Families magazine that can help adoptive families prepare their kids to answer questions about themselves and their families. She also links to resources for speaking with your child's teacher and a handout for positive adoption language.
Recently, an adopted adolescent told me that she has been teased about being adopted. I'm curious -- is that a typical experience of adopted kids? I wonder if more work is needed to educate all children about some of the many ways families come together. It could be a simple lesson plan or classroom discussion about families that includes reference to some of the different ways families are built -- through birth, adoption (open, closed, kinship, international), guardianships, etc. Maybe just a way to broaden the worldview of kids who don't have much personal experience with that?
This is a good reminder to me to talk to my kids about this as well, even though they're still preschool age. My son is beginning to talk more about the differences he notices in peoples' bodies, so undoubtedly he'll soon become curious about families who don't all look alike. (Yes, we've had the "You're fat!" comment to a stranger in the grocery store.)
Maybe the time to really educate is before the kids hit school age, so that it's a normal part of their vocabulary and life experience by the time they're in the classroom.
I'd love to hear how and when you're talking to your kids about adoption and other ways families come together.
Image: Stock.xchng
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