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, particularly because the learning objectives often are nil. One suggestion before declining to do these is asking the teacher what the purpose is when such an assignment is made. The goals may be to introduce words and relationships; to learn your place in the family and the family history; or to study where ancestors came from, or simply to point out who the students in the class "are." A thinking, caring teaching will seek other ways to achieve the same goals. Is the purpose a discussion of genetics or biology (if so, this is often irrelevant and impossible for our adopted kids, making them feel different -and "different" is often seen as meaning "less." Can that be achieved somehow else, especially in the lower grades? Easily done). A discussion of geneology? (perhaps no problem for OUR kids, who are part of our family----but what about the foster kids, the kids being raised in situations where families have no such knowledge, or where families are in turmoil?) A discussion of different kinds of families? (OK for older grades, extremely difficult for grades under about third----I have MANY personal anecdotes for that one. I have worked closely in conjunction with the guidance counselor on this one---step families, foster families, single parent families, nuclear families, extended families, etc. ).

In addition, these school assignments are often compounded with "show pictures of what you looked like as a baby" or "send in your milestones." Sure, you can make this stuff up. But WHY should you have to? A child adopted beyond babyhood may have no pictures (mine don't).

Here's part 1 of this series.
This is part 2.
Here's part 3.
Here's part 4.