Adoption Awareness in School Assignments
How to help your adopted child navigate "family tree" or "bring a baby picture" school assignments that might make her feel uncomfortable.
Several common school assignments can make foster and adoptive children feel left out, uncomfortable, sad, and hurt. Projects like the ‘Family Tree’, ‘Bring-a-Baby Picture’ and ‘Trace Your Genetic Traits’ can be particularly difficult for students adopted at older ages; however, children adopted as infants and those living in foster care may also lack the information for some family-based assignments.
Adopted children have suffered, at the very least, the loss of their birth parents and extended family. Some have also endured abuse and neglect, and have spent years in foster homes or orphanages. Basing lessons on a traditional family configuration not only excludes these students, but may also trigger strong grief reactions.*
Fortunately, these assignments can be easily modified to work for children in all different types of family configurations, without sacrificing the educational goals.
‘Bring a Baby Picture’ Assignments or ‘Bring Photos at Each Age from Birth’
1. Problem: A child adopted internationally or from foster care may not have photos of himself before age two, three, or even older.
a) ‘Bring a baby picture’ assignments emphasize an issue that is already extremely painful for children who don’t have photos.
b) This project puts the child in the difficult position of explaining to other kids why he doesn’t have baby pictures. The child may not want to share that he was adopted at all, much less the details.
2. Solution: Present the assignment as a choice. Bring a picture or picture of:
a) As a baby or any younger age, or
b) The child on various holidays, or
c) Doing various activities (sports, dance, chorus, vacations, etc.)
Autobiographies and Family History Assignments
1. Problem: Many adopted children lack information about their early years, or the information is painful and private. These children face a difficult conflict: Do I screen out painful memories or should I be honest?*
2. Solution: Offer students a choice to write about:
a) My Life
b) When I was Younger
c) My Life in the Past Year
d) A Special Event or Person in My Life
* Adoption-Competent School Assignments Fact Sheet, MN ASAP, Minnesota Adoption and Support and Preservations, www.mnasap.org
Excerpted with permission from Adoption Awareness in School Assignments: A Guide for Parents and Educators, by Christine Mitchell, copyright 2007. Available at http://www.tapestrybooks.com/
Copyright 2007, Christine Mitchell, www.christine-mitchell.com
