If you read the other parts of this series, you know that I consider homeschooling to be a great option for older, internationally adopted children, but I thought you might like to hear the perspective of some other moms. It’s significant to note that while many of these families were already homeschoolers at the time they adopted, for some, as was the case in our family, the adoption was the catalyst for choosing homeschooling.

Sharee, a homeschooling mom of four, including Sarah, who was adopted from China at nearly six years of age, had this to say:

“During... more

First, wipe out your expectations. Assume you’re starting with a blank slate, and think of any skills you identify right away in your child as bonuses. This is not to say you should expect your child will be unintelligent, but chances are that he will be behind, will have learned things differently, and in the case of international adoption, will have limited English skills.

Second, don’t worry too much about doing formal “school” for the first few months. Just play! Read together, sing, dance, go for walks, plant flowers, go shopping, visit the park, go on picnics, cook, do art projects, play games, draw pictures, watch movies and just get to know your new child. In our case,... more

As I wrote in part one, I believe that homeschooling can be a great option for older adopted children, particularly when they come from an orphanage environment in another country. I think it deserves real consideration when parents begin to contemplate what their child’s education will be like once they arrive in their new home.

My very favorite reason for homeschooling our new 8 year old daughter is that it has given her the chance to do myriad things as part of “school”... more

When we adopted our daugher, Lulu, she was nearly eight years old but had had very little formal education in her birth country of Haiti. We knew from prior visits with her that she couldn’t write (and didn’t draw well), and that she couldn’t do basic math or even recognize letters and numbers. We also knew that on top of her limited academic experience, the language barrier would be an issue. During our adoption wait, we began to give some thought to homeschooling her as a way to help her catch up. I worried a little about how she’d feel being the only “big kid” not going to school, but over time, we started giving heavy consideration to homeschooling all our kids.

About this... more

The assignment to bring in a baby photo can also be problematic for the adopted child. When my children attended public school, each one was asked to bring a baby photo and current photo to be displayed on the board for a matching game. Kids who could match newborn photos to their grown counterparts could win prizes, so they were all motivated to participate. Thankfully, this happened before we started adopting.

In another scenario, children are sometimes asked to bring in a baby photo and tell their classmates about their families. For one, baby photos of an adopted child may not exist (I have ONE newborn photo of ONE of my adopted children) and two, if the child is a person... more

In our family tree experiment, we were fortunate to be able to work on it in the privacy of our own home and in a way that didn’t single our daughter out in front of 30 other kids. If you’re confronted with an assignment given to your child, and particularly one that requires some sort of verbal presentation, Adoptive Family Magazine gives these suggestions for handing it.

For Younger Children

My Home: Children draw and name the people... more

Yesterday, just prior to writing my last post, my mother and I were discussing school activities that children are sometimes assigned to do, and how they can be problematic for adopted children. Two examples came to mind: the “family tree” project and the “who’s who?” baby photo activity. I had told my mom that because we are a homeschooling family, our adopted children would fortunately be spared these particular challenges. Well, the joke was on me when Lulu came home from Achievement Days last night with a blank family group... more