International Adoption: Strategies in Early Childhood Classrooms to
Help Facilitate Family Success
Patricia Caro, Ph.D.
Oluyomi Ogunnaike, Ph.D.
International Adoption: Strategies in Early Childhood Classrooms to
Help Facilitate Family Success
“ Legacy of an Adopted Child- Once there were two women, who never knew
each other. One you do not remember;
the other you call Mother… One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your
tears… And now you ask me, through your tears, the old age question, unanswered
through the years. Heredity or
environment, which are you the product of?
Neither my darling, neither.
Just two different kinds of love.” (Author Unknown)
In 1999, 16,369 children were adopted by United States families (U. S. Department of State, Office of Visa Processing, 2000). The largest percentage of children immigrating to the United States came from Russia, China (mainland), South Korea, and Guatemala.
As
early childhood personnel, we need to understand the backgrounds of the children
coming from different countries and how to assist their transitions to day care
centers, and preschool programs.
Similarly, we need to be able to offer necessary support to the children’s parents as they
nourish their new relationships with their children. This article will describe developmental interventions,
attachment issues, curricular ideas, and nutritional considerations that can
facilitate successful integration of children adopted from overseas into early
childhood environments.
Children,
adopted from overseas, can experience a variety of living options ranging from
a foster family (the best scenario) to an orphanage with crowded living
quarters (the least desirable option).
The following description is an example of one child adopted from
Romania, who has had less than optimal prior experiences.
Imagine
Natasha, a Romanian, three-year old, who resided with her single mother for the
first eighteen months of her life.
Natasha was permanently removed from her mother’s care as a result of
the mother’s “immoral” behaviors, all of which were never described to her
adoptive parents. In the orphanage,
Natasha’s life revolved around “following” the group of her 25 peers crowded
into one room for meals, and playtime with insufficient numbers of toys for all
of her fellow residents. Occasionally,
there was outside play on worn playground equipment. Although warm and energetic, the staff members were few in
numbers, which results in each child having about two minutes of individualized
attention per day.
A
child, like Natasha, could be attending your day care center, after being home
full-time with her adoptive parents for several months. Clearly, Natasha’s needs are similar as well
as significantly different than her peers.
Like other children, Natasha needs a consistent, nurturing, positive
environment. In fact, parents have
reported that following the exact time schedule of the orphanage or
foster family has facilitated the children’s transition to the United States,
after being swept from everything familiar to them (personal communication,
1999).
Yet,
Natasha or any child from an impoverished environment, may seem overwhelmed by
the abundance of toys, the volume of noise, and the enthusiastic expressions of
the staff, children, etc. In addition,
they may experience developmental delays as a result of having previously
resided in an unresponsive environment and suddenly coping with an unfamiliar
language and culture. For a child who
displays sensitivity to the actions and noises, the parent(s) may want to
gradually introduce their child to the early childhood setting. An early childhood educator could limit the
number of toys given to a child at any one time. The early childhood educator could also enrich the child’s
interaction with materials through language.
Children adopted from
overseas suddenly experience a new language that has little meaning for
them. In order to facilitate children’s
adjustment to a new setting, the early childhood educators, adults, or other
caregivers could learn key phrases in the children’s native language. These adults could then pair the English
equivalent with the native language phrase.
This educator could then demonstrate sample actions that could occur
with the toy while simultaneously verbalizing simple, phrases or sentences
describing those actions. It is highly
advantageous that the parents, if need be, contact the local school system in
order to take advantage of early childhood special education and support
services. An early childhood special
educator can collaborate with the parents and staff at the early childhood
center in order to facilitate the child’s optimal development.
For
a child previously experiencing impoverished environments, it is difficult to
determine whether children’s delay in skills is the result of being in an
impoverished environment or is a reflection of a child’s true developmental
delay. One effective manner is to
monitor how each child progresses in his/her skills over several months. For example, at three years of age, Natasha
was unable to name colors in English nor in her native language, Romanian. However, six months later, not only is she
able to label colors, but she is also able to associate colors with fruits and
her favorite toys. An early childhood
educator could then document Natasha’s progress and inform the parents about
the overall implications of such growth.
This type of information is valuable to parents, since they are able to
obtain a general idea of how quickly Natasha or a child like her could
progress.
In
fact, adoptive parents have reported that their children have dramatically
increased in their rate of development, once in the United States (Judge,
1999). For example, Anna was adopted at
eleven months of age. Her parents
reported that she doubled her rate of acquiring her developmental milestones to
the point that she was age appropriate within six months. Anna’s and other
parents attribute their children’s rapid rate of progress to loving nurturance,
proper nutrition, and responsive and stimulating care-giving (Bredekamp &
Copple, 1997).
Attachment Issues
We
know that the parent-child relationship forms the foundation from which future,
mutually satisfying relationships occur (Greenspan & Wieder, 1998). When the relationship with the parent is not
as nurturing as it should be, another adult could serve as that special person
for a young child. Unfortunately, young
children adopted from overseas may not have had the previous joy of having a
significant, nurturing adult in their life.
In order for children to develop healthy self-concepts, the early
childhood educator can facilitate that attachment.
As with other children, the
early childhood educator can position herself/himself at the child’s eye level
as he/she implements the care-giving role involving welcoming (e.g., smiling),
ensuring the child’s safety, and well-being.
The early childhood educator can maintain frequent communication with
parents by sharing daily observations, pleasurable events, and their children’s
development of new skills. An early
childhood educator can give parents the wonderful gift of celebrating the
child’s unique personality traits and thus, reinforce the bond between parents
and their children. Young children need
to be adequately prepared for their transition to out-of-home environments such
as day care, preschool programs, etc.
Children adopted from overseas, particularly, need to be informed and
assisted in demonstrating the behaviors expect of them in these learning environments.
Another
major aspect of facilitating children’s adaptation to a preschool setting is
how the classroom curriculum is organized and taught. In early childhood settings, themes, especially those that
expound on typical topics (namely families), are explored through a variety of
methods- books, pictures, music, family trees, and other hands-on
activities. The early childhood
educator could further enrich children’s knowledge and appreciation of the
notion of family by emphasizing different types of families, family traditions,
and uniqueness.
In fact, families who have
adopted children of different ethnically diverse backgrounds from their own see
their children as individuals with many similarities to themselves. The issue of skin color is not negated. Rather, racial differences are but a very
small aspect of each family member's uniqueness. Some families celebrate two special days for their children
adopted from overseas. Typically, one
day is a celebration of the child’s birthday and one day (sometimes called
“Gotcha Day) could be the celebration of when the adoption became final or the
day when the family entered into the United States. These celebrations of family traditions help build a sense of
family and solidify a child’s place in that family. Therefore, use of these special days reinforces the importance of
that child to his/her family. Even with
these special days, children are seen as children first, and not introduced as
the adopted children.
Effective
collaboration with parents is paramount to each child having a successful
placement at a public or private site.
Although people may have an interest in learning the extreme details of
children’s previous backgrounds, it is important that the early childhood
educator understands that the parents see their children as they are now and
gradually reflect less on from where the children have come. Also, since there is typically no discussion
of the financial arrangements involving an adoption, inquiries about the birth
parents and the adoptive parents being the “real” parents should be approached
sensitively.
The health of a child is
crucial to overall growth and development (see Bredekamp & Copple, 1997;
Brewer, 1998). Thus, it is imperative
that the parents and early childhood educators work together in fostering the
nutritional status of young children with slightly extra efforts. For example, parents and the early childhood
educator can increase the caloric intake of a child, who eats only small
amounts by adding butter, nonfat dry milk, cream, etc. Foods like rendered chicken fat in mashed
potatoes, vegetables, hot cereal, and with other foods in which butter or
margarine could be used to supplement the diet of children who experience
lactose intolerance.
Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally
appropriate practice in early
childhood programs (revised edition).
Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young
Children.
Brewer, J. A. (1998). Introduction to early
childhood education: Preschool through the primary grades. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Greenspan, S. I., & Weider, S. (1998). The
child with special needs: Encouraging intellectual and emotional growth. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Judge, S. L. (1999). Eastern european adoptions: Current status and implications for
intervention. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 19(4), 244-252.
United States Department of State, Office of Visa
Processing (2000). Immigrant Visas Issued
to Orphans Coming to the U. S. [On-line].
Available: http://travel.state.gov/orpha_numbers.html