Age Appropriate Therapies for Foster Children

 No matter what type of situation a foster child has come from, they have the potential to thrive in a loving and nurturing home. Therapy gives a foster child the ability to regain lost ground. The most potent forms of therapy have an underlying theme of self-empowerment. Depending on the age of the child and what needs to be addressed, these methods may be used together.Cognitive-Behavioral TherapyCognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) takes into consideration the way the child is thinking and works with them to build new behaviors. This form of therapy is best for older children who can sit and communicate effectively. It works to promote emotional growth. Your foster child will be able to learn to understand the intense emotions including those that are attached to past events. From there they can practice how to control those feelings more effectively. Instead of displaying defiant behaviors, a child can begin to use other

Whether you are fostering or adopting a child, once of the biggest questions you will undoubtedly ask yourself is: what life skills and values  you would like to instill in them? While it is true that all children have their own talents, interests, and outlooks on life, there are important lessons that nearly everyone can take with them in their adulthood. Take time to think about the things that matter to you and the extent to which specific skills or behaviors have helped you, and try to synthesize this into a small but valuable list. If you need a little inspiration, perhaps the following life lessons can be of help.Being a Team PlayerWhile independence and learning to stand on your own two feet are crucial for your health and happiness, most scenarios in your child’s life will involve working in a team – including school sports, friendship groups, and work settings. Even being in a relationship

Parenting By The Infinite NumbersThere are 250 babies born every minute. That means each year there are at least 150 million new parents trying to decipher how to best raise theirs. Move in close to any group of new moms and dads, and you are sure to hear lots of advice being shared and criticism of “other parents”. It’s true that new parents tend to rigorously study trends and research on how best to raise kids, and that’s a good thing. But it’s also important to acknowledge that, although you believe in your approach to proper parenting, it doesn’t mean the way someone else handles their kids is necessarily wrong. A parenting expert on every cornerThere are so many experts categorizing parenting styles and giving advice on how to raise kids, it can be dizzying. And they are often contradictory. The authoritarian parent, one of the four types of parents as defined by

Becoming a foster parent is one of the biggest and most rewarding decisions you can ever make in life. While you do receive supplemental income from fostering children, your family may be eligible for additional benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers disability benefits for people with serious illnesses, or dependent family members of those with disabilities. There are a few ways children in foster care could be eligible for aid. If Your Foster Child Has a Disability Social Security disability benefits are available to people of all ages. Children will qualify for Supplemental Security Income, or SSI benefits. SSI is only awarded to families in severe financial need, so if you or your spouse has a moderate income, your foster child will not be eligible for SSI benefits. For example, a single parent cannot earn more than $38,000 per year before taxes while having a child qualify for SSI.

By Ellie Porter We all need sleep. There’s no arguing that. For children, sleep plays a vital role in their proper physical and mental growth and development. However, many foster and adoptive children have trouble falling and staying asleep. In their experience, nighttime has often been a scary time that’s full of unknowns. With sleep as a priority, you’ll be setting your child up for better long-term health and happiness. Proper Growth Your child does most of his growing while he sleeps. The body goes through five sleep stages throughout the night, and it’s during the first of the deep sleep stages that the body releases human growth hormone. It’s released regularly throughout the night to stimulate bone, muscle, and organ growth. When your child doesn’t get enough sleep, he’s also getting less growth hormone, which, over a long period of time, can interfere with normal growth. Successful Social Relationships

As a foster and adoptive mother, we are no strangers to bedtime and the art of navigating it with new placements. Here are a few tips and tricks we have learned over the years that make bedtime with your new family member just a little bit easier. #1 Lower your expectations This may seem like common sense, but I’m amazed at how many people expect their new children to be able to fall right into a bedtime routine. If your child is coming straight from a home where they may have experienced neglect or trauma, they may have never even gone through a bedtime routine before. When our youngest son came to us as a toddler, the first few days the bedtime process took 3+ hours a night. I would just be prepared to spend a lot of time at the beginning investing into your new child and building trust

7 Great Adoption Books for Kids Hi there! My name is Sara. I’m a foster mother to many and an adoptive mother to my two sons, ages 6 and 13. Throughout the years we have found that one of the easiest ways to explain foster care and adoption to the kids who come through our home is through reading bedtime stories. Here are 7 of my favorite kids books that explain adoption.   A Mother for Choco By Keiko Kasza We LOVE Choco in our house. This is a great story that explains that mothers aren’t mothers based on if they look similar to their children, but instead what role they play in their child’s life. Choco’s mother and siblings look nothing like him, but they are family. This book is a very fun twist on the classic “Are you my Mother?” storybook. Great book that shows adoption as a

You can read every book on adoption out there, but when it comes to your actual adoption, you may be blindsided by some things that no book or Internet article could have prepared you for. We asked some adoptive parents what they wish they had known before adopting and asked them to mention any advice they would give to families looking to adopt. Betty and Melinda Potts-Cerio adopted two sisters they had fostered through Community Based Care of Central Florida. They said,”Our best advice is to learn everything you can! Most importantly, educate yourself about the effects of trauma on kids.  Seek out and know your resources then use them!  Self-care is so important as well. Take care of yourselves so you can take care of your kids.  These kids are counting on you, go make a difference!” Annette Marie Griffin, whose debut children’s book What Is A Family will be released next year,

  If you don’t personally know anyone who has adopted children, the process can be daunting and lonely. Fortunately, the Internet exists to let you know you’re not alone no matter what you are going through. Many adoptive parents have started blogs to share their adoption experiences and the joys of parenthood. Reading these blogs can help make you feel like you have a friend on speed dial ready to give you advice and guidance whenever you need it.  Here are a few of our favorite adoption blogs: 1. The Lucky Few Mother of three Heather Avis chronicles her journey as a parent to Macyn, Truly, and August, all of whom she and her husband adopted. Macyn and August have Down Syndrome, so this blog is especially relevant to those who are looking to adopt special needs children. Heather is a fierce activist for Down Syndrome and has been featured on

Before you actually begin the process of adopting a child, there may be a lot you don’t know. Your only knowledge of adoption may come from media coverage of celebrity adoptions or memoirs written by adoptive parents. Many people have preconceived assumptions about adoption because of the way adoption is portrayed in pop culture.  These (often negative) assumptions might make you fret over whether or not adoption is really right for you. But before you rule out adoption because of misconceptions, get the facts by asking your agency as many questions as you can think of and doing your homework. To start, read on as we dispel some of the most common myths about adoption. 1. Only the wealthy can afford adoption. While adoptions range in costs and not everyone will have the money upfront, it isn’t always expensive. There are also many resources available to help ensure that adoption