Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Oh No it's the project

The kids are all in school, public school that is. And they LOVE it! They love their friends, their teachers, and the fact that they get to ride a school bus. And I love that they love it.

I also am very fond of the school, each of the teachers, and the unique approach they take to teaching each student. Could not be happier.....

Until......

I get an e-mail from our Kindie teacher, Elens teacher, whom I adore as does Elen. This e-mail it says they are starting a project called "I Remember When". For those who may not be in the loop this particular assignment is every parent who has ever adopted an older child worst nightmare, but more importantly every older adopted childs worst nightmare.

Naturally they are looking for baby pictures and pictures from birth to present day depicting significant events in their lives.

Um.....How can I sat this without crying? We don't have baby pictures of Elen. None, not one. There is no way to get a baby picture of Elen.

Elen will likely be the only student in her class whose pictures will date back to only 1 year ago. My friends, she will notice this. And her friends will notice this, and anyone who is not really a friend and wants to find something to make fun of her for, will notice this.

And now I will cry, because this is only the first of many events which will highlight that she is different from her peers.

Let me compose myself now and google how does an adopted older child complete this type of project.....Because whether I like it or not this is the world we live in. This is the world my adopted children live in and there certainly is no reason to crumble over this. Instead we will rock out the best possible project we can and make our way through this obstacle with our heads held high.....



2 comments:

  1. Adoptive Families magazine has resources for how to address this with teachers. Your children are not the only ones without baby pictures. Most foster children don't have baby pictures either. This project needs to be shelved. It belongs with the days of "whites only" drinking fountains. What curriculum standard does this project meet? It can easily be changed to a "I Remember A Special Time in My Life" project. It does not need to be a life timeline. Two thumbs down to that insensitive teacher!

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  2. Yes, thumbs down. So, so sorry you're having to deal with this. Hang in there! I don't have advice as our boys haven't faced projects like this (yet), but I'm trusting you'll find the right way to handle it.

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