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If you and your child have decided to start school this coming month there are several things you can do to prepare for this exciting and nerve wracking day.
The first thing is to get in touch with your school district and arrange a meeting with the principal of the school your child will attending. You will have a pretty good idea of the school atmosphere and how well they will work with you and your family just by getting an appointment set up.
A few questions to ask would be:
1) Does your school have experience with older child adoption?
2) What services do you offer for kids who are behind academically, learning English or who may have some history of trauma.
3) How involved can parents be with their child’s education?
4) Can I meet with the teacher before school starts and introduce him/her to our situation and concerns I may have?
There are many more questions that will be answered when meeting with the principal and teacher. You will be able to get a feel of the enviroment and how caring they are. If they have had a bad experience with older child adoption or appear scared of your child’s situation you can put a stop to enrolling him or her and not submit your child to additional change and problems.
If your child will be a minority in the school, you also will want to look at the demographics of students and staff. It’s good to know if your child will be the only “brown” kid at school to prep him or her on it.
If your child is nervous about meeting new people and having to tell his/her story, you can come up with an easy and generic story that the whole family will know and stick to. This keeps everyone on the same loop and gives your child some comfort in knowing that you won’t give out any more details than thay want you to.
As a parent, I believe that a lot of descions are made on instinct. If this is your first time parenting it is important to trust your gut! Don’t second guess yourself because of your possible lack of experience.
