This is kind of a companion post to our Special Needs' blogger's recent post on homework. We have our own homework struggles in this house involving my older, school-aged son, but I think it's due to the beginning-of-school ya yas and the transition from our lazy summer schedule to our current more scheduled schedule.

But I am wondering how people feel about putting pressure on kids to do well in school. How much pressure is too much? Should pressure to do well come from... more

I got an e-mail this morning from a PhD candidate who is studying children who've been adopted internationally and their experience in school settings. I think this is an area that's sorely in need of study and I encourage anyone with a little time on their hands to complete the survey.

She has allowed me to repost her original request for participation in my blog. If you're wiling to help her out, please send her an e-mail (her address is at the bottom) to get a copy of the survey.

My name is Belinda Conrad Richardson. I adopted three children from Russia. Mary and Ethan in July 2003 (6 and 4 at the time) and Emaline in July 2004 (11 months at the time).... more

Today I had another visit to an elementary school to talk about my book, about writing, and about adoption. I spoke to four 2nd grade classes and a 1st grade class. That was a lot! Once again, the kids asked wonderful, insightful questions. But for the first time I was also asked some questions that gave me pause.

Here we go. Things that made me go 'urm?'

When you buy a baby for adoption, how much does it cost?

Did a baby die in your belly? If a baby died in a mom's belly and you were going to adopt it, what would... more

Over the past few weeks I've been doing school visits to various local schools (mostly year-round, which is why I visited in August). I talk to them about adoption, about writing, and about my book, When I Met You: A Story of Russian Adoption.

I wrote about my classroom visits a bit at the end of the last school year (in this blog entry, this... more

This is part 4 of a series about family tree assignments. Beth Waggenspeck, a communications professor at Virginia Tech, an adoptive parent, and a writer about adoption issues, kindly gave me permission to repost something she wrote about the problem with family tree type assignments.

For years, I have offered those resources to teachers and will append some of them here. I will not let the teacher say "Well, your child IS part of your family tree" as the "excuse" for such an assignment. Of course Sasha and Will are mine, and the Waggenspack... more

This is part 3 of a series about family tree assignments. Beth Waggenspeck, a communications professor at Virginia Tech, an adoptive parent, and a writer about adoption issues, kindly gave me permission to repost something she wrote about the problem with family tree type assignments.

She continues:

A child from a poor family may have no pictures or milestones ( as of last year's data, 4,350 families in my small, SW Virgina county live without indoor plumbing; 49% of my son's elementary school classmates receive free lunch; 36% are... more

This is continued from a previous post about family tree assignments. Beth Waggenspeck, a communications professor at Virginia Tech, an adoptive parent, and a writer about adoption issues, kindly gave me permission to repost something she wrote about the problem with family tree type assignments.

Here's what she said.

As an educator and parent, I have great difficulties with the assignment of the "Family Tree" or "When I was born" assignment,... more

A while back one of my fellow bloggers wrote a post about the "dreaded family tree assignment." (I cannot remember who, so please speak up so I can link to that post!) From what I remember (please correct me if I'm wrong - you know who you are!), that blogger said that although she knew that many adoptive parents objected an assignment that asked students to create a family tree or talk about their personal history, she didn't see what the big deal was. Her child would just create a family tree showing himself as part of the family, because that's what he was.

At... more

Recently on the EEAC PEP listserv (for parents of post-adoption, school-aged children) there's been a discussion of whether or not it's appropriate to tell your child's teacher that he or she was adopted. Specifically, the discussion is about kids who were adopted much younger than they are now (we're not talking about not mentioning to the kindergarten teacher that the reason little Alex speaks Russian instead of English is because he's adopted...)

Most of the posters so far have said they've thought it was a good idea, even... more

Little J has recently become fascinated with "girly" things: he likes to have his finger and toenails painted, he likes to have barrettes and ponytails in his hair (this is a challenge as his hair is not particularly long) and he's asked me if he can wear a dress. Since we don't have any girls around I don't have a dress to let him wear, but I'd do it if I did. I don't really see the harm in any of this exploration although it bugs his dad. Big J did similar sorts of things when he was this age and it didn't harm him any. He knows he's a boy. So does Little... more