Adoption Awareness in School Assignments: A Guide for Parents and Educators

This pamphlet covers a greater number of specific assignments than some of the other available resources on this topic.  The guide features:

*  Descriptions of the problems associated with each specific school project.

*  Suggestions to make the assignments more inclusive.

*  An outline format offers teachers an 'at-a-glance solution' without having to search through a longer publication.

*  Exclusive ready-to-use worksheets are included, which can either be handed out as they are, or offered as examples to aid students in drawing their own alternative version of the Family Tree chart.  Includes the Family Wheel and Family Houses diagrams.

* A section offering rebuttals to common arguments educators may have against modifying these assignments.  The arguments presented are actual ones that the author faced when addressing this subject with a school administrator, who eventually agreed to educate her staff on these issues. 

This useful guide will help foster and adoptive parents advocate for their children, and it will help educators be more sensitive to the needs and issues of foster and adoptive children.  November is National Adoption Month, which would be a great time to share this resource with parents and for parents to pass it along to their child’s school.

Excerpted with permission from: Adoption Awareness in School Assignments: A Guide for Parents and Educators 

by Christine Mitchell, copyright 2007

“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[i].

…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.
   1. ‘Bring a baby picture’ assignments emphasize an issue that is already extremely painful for children who don’t have photos.
   2. 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 pictures:
   1. As a baby or any younger age OR
   2. Of the child on various holidays OR doing various activities (sports, dance, chorus, vacations, etc.)