School Issues for Adopted Children
Schools can unintentionally be a minefield for adopted children and their parents. Issues related to school that adoptive families face can include:
- The language used to talk about adoption and birth families
- What, who, and when to talk with school personnel about your child’s history
- Traditional assignments such as family tree and baby picture
- Learning issues cause by early deprivation or prenatal exposure
- Ethnicity and racial issues
In addition to the annual Back to School resource campaign we offer each summer, Creating a Family has many resources to help you handle these sticky issues. A few we think you will find particularly helpful are:
- Do You Feel Like School is Not Working for Your Child? (article)
- It Is Time to Uproot the Old Family Tree Assignment! (guest article)
- Practical Tips To Help Parents and Caregivers Navigate Special Education Services (article)
- Raising a Child with ADHD to a Successful & Healthy Adulthood (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
- Navigating Special Education and the IEP/504 Process (1 hr. podcast w/ experts)
- How to Prepare Transracial Adoptees for Transitioning to College (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
- Suggested Books on ADHD & Learning Differences
*While many of the school issues encountered by foster & kinship families are quite similar to those that adoptive families face, there are some unique differences. You can find resources for School Issues for Foster & Kinship Kids at this link.
Many more Creating a Family interviews with experts, blogs, and fact sheets on school issues can be found at the icons below.
Image credit: Kate Ter Haar
Additional Resources
