“My daughter has greater difficulties with transitions than her friends who were born into their families. If we know a transition is coming, we prepare.”
Child-Created Lifebooks
Even if you’ve made a scrapbook or lifebook for your child, kids this age like to tell their own stories. Here’s how to help.
Adapting School Assignments
Some school assignments ask for details that make our kids feel uneasy. But you — and your child’s teacher — can help.
Preparing for Questions About Adoption at School
Before first grade, parents need to teach kids how to respond to unwelcome comments about adoption at school.
The Great Back-to-School Kit
17 simple and effective ways to bring adoption into the classroom.
A Forest of Family Trees
Inclusive assignments help your grade-schooler, as well as her classmates, learn about their lives and the world around them.
Why Didn’t They Keep Me?
Answering kids’ questions about birth parents.
What if My Birth Mother Shows Up to Claim Me?
Reassure your child that you are his parent, forever and always.
A Labor to Listen: Auditory Processing Disorder
If the sounds of the world are too much for your child, he may have an auditory processing problem. Learn how to figure it out and find help.
“Too Many Questions”
When you and your child look different, the world wants to know why.
Ask AF: School Records
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: What’s the Big Secret?
Answers to your parenting questions.
[Book Review] Little Cub
An AF reader briefly reviews Little Cub, a children’s book with adoption themes.
The Family Picture
Grade-schoolers need to know how they connect with their adoptive families.
Ask AF: Cultural Connections
Answers to your parenting questions.
Connecting with Other Adoptees
As they progress through grade school, most children want to “blend in” and be part of the crowd. But what if a child feels that the way she joined her family–through adoption–sets her apart?
View the Adoption at School Webinar Replay
View the replay of the webinar “Adoption at School,” with Brooke Randolph, LMHC, to learn about how adoption may come up in your child’s classroom, and how parents can talk to teachers and prepare their child to respond.
How to Get Your School on Board
Help get your school ready for your child.
“My Most Pressing Back-to-School Task”
After bringing up race and adoption with my children’s teachers at the start of each academic year, I always feel worried and hyper-vigilant. But, invariably, they get it.
Supporting Your Child Through Grief
Our children rely on us to guide them through saying goodbye.