Many adoptive families wonder if homeschooling could possibly work for their child. Kids need to be around others who look like them. Is growing up in a white family-- and then being homeschooled to boot-- a good decision?

I happened across a blog called "This Woman's Work". It is written by Dawn Friedman, an adoptive mother who has a Black daughter. She talks about the thought process surrounding her decision to homeschool her daughter. Here she talks about reading a book titled Morning... more

When my husband was a kid, he complained of a sore neck quite regularly-- oddly enough, this affliction seemed to strike every Saturday morning. His mother was understandably concerned, and decided to bring him to the doctor.

The first question out of the mouth of his astute pediatrician was, "Does he watch TV on Saturday mornings?"

Yes. In fact, he got up and 6:00 and watched cartoons until 11:00, lying on his stomach and looking up at the TV the whole time. Five straight hours. No wonder his neck was sore.

There's plenty of evidence these days about the hazards... more

I've 'known' Martha Osborne online for nearly a decade now. She and I were both on China and Korean-adopt email listservs in 1997 when my husband and I first began discussing adoption. They built their family through adoption as we built ours, and though in recent years she and I haven't been on the same e-groups, I've always been glad to hear updates on her family.

Martha is the founder of RainbowKids.com, a monthly internet magazine about international adoption. I found out only recently that Martha also has a blog. On that blog recently she has had some interesting discussion.

She... more

Many parents who adopt children beyond the age of infancy report that their children have meltdowns in the first months home. This isn't especially surprising, given the fact that they have been taken away from everything familiar. After all, every kid pitches a fit sometimes.

However, several things tend to make this an especially troublesome problem for adoptive parents.

Duration First of all, many parents expect the worst of the meltdowns to end after the first couple weeks at home. The truth is, it is extremely common for kids to be volatile for months. Some kids... more

Listen in long enough on the conversation of any group of new moms, and eventually the talk will turn to sleep. Who's getting it, who isn't, and how to get more of it. Opinions about settling babies to sleep will fly, with the lucky moms of 'sleepers' almost certain to expound upon THE way to get babies to sleep.

In my experience, there is not one right way to get a baby to sleep. Babies have different levels of tolerance and so do parents. Potentially lots of different ways could work.

However when you are talking about an adopted baby, I think that there is a narrower range... more

During a discussion of troublesome behaviors of children on my adoption email support group, a friend pointed the group towards the following article: What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage

The article was written by a woman assigned to write an article on animal training. During the course of learning about animal training techniques, she realized that some of this techniques just might be helpful in reducing some of the behaviors she found irritating about... more

(Part One here)

Many times during the year it took my son to heal I wondered if we needed a therapist-- it was tough, tough work. We did lots of holding time which I realize is controversial. But I used my best judgment, never put him in an unsafe situation, and it was a big part of his healing.

I also kept him next to me almost all the time for awhile. Translated for an older kid that would probably mean homeschooling, in my opinion. Kids struggling with attachment need time with mom to attach well.

Looking back, I think that our struggle would have been easier if we'd had a therapist... more

Recently on one of my e-groups, someone asked if it was possible to deal with attachment issues without the benefit of a therapist. I wrote and shared with her the things that were effective in dealing with the attachment issues one of my children had the first year home. Our child was very young, 20 months on homecoming.

Resources I used include:

- The attach-china yahoogroup-click here to find out how to join.

-"Building the... more

This evening I was lying in my 3 year old's bed, helping her get settled in for the night. I told her it was almost time for me to go and she did her usual fussing, trying to keep me just a few minutes longer. Finally, she said in tones of frustration, "But, Mom, I have a terrible sickness on me!"

Through giggles (mine) and a few tummy-tickles (both of us) I managed to make her admit that she wasn't really sick after all. Finally she was tucked in for the night, and I could slip away, with the promise that I would peek in on her in awhile.

Seems like a commonplace interaction, but it took us two years to get to this point-- the point where I could walk away with her... more

Lots of new adoptive parents report that their new kids are picky about food at first, especially kids older than toddler age. American food can be very different from Ethiopian food, and the newness of it all can be overwhelming.

Foods most commonly refused by new kids include: bacon, cold cereal, milk, frosting, hot dogs, unpeeled fruit, oatmeal, pizza, and soup. An especially hated item (by many kids anyway) seems to be cheese, especially if it has been melted.

Some people have reported that their kids will eat macaroni and cheese if berbere is liberally sprinkled on top. In fact... more