Schools can unintentionally be a minefield for foster children and foster parents. Some of the common school issues that foster families face can include:
- The language used to talk about foster care, birth families and even adoption
- What to share, with whom to share it, and when to talk with school personnel about your foster child’s history
- Traditional assignments such as family trees and baby picture projects
- Learning issues causes by interrupted education, history of neglect or deprivation or prenatal exposure
- Incomplete grade-level progress caused by multiple placements or changes in districts/buildings
- Ethnicity and racial issues
Of course, there can be much more to the struggle than even those things listed here. It’s helpful to be prepared for the challenges a foster child might face.
Creating a Family has many resources on school issues for foster children. A few of our more recent ones that we think you will find particularly helpful are:
- Advocating for Your Foster or Kinship Child at School (article)
- A Letter to My Adopted Child’s Teacher (article)
- When the School System Feels Like the Bully (article)
- Advocating For Your Foster Child in School (article)
- Raising a Child with ADHD to a Successful & Healthy Adulthood (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
Scroll to the very bottom to see other resources that Creating A Family offers to educate and support foster parents for school issues for foster children, in the form of blogs, radio shows/podcasts, tip sheets, fact sheets, and expert Q & A’s.
Additional Resources
Creating a Family Radio Shows on School Issues
Creating a Family Blogs on School Issues
Creating a Family Factsheets, Tips, Research on School Issues
Creating a Family Videos on School Issues
Q and A's with Experts on School Issues