I took our foster daughter to school today. I was disappointed to find that the teacher had not been informed about the circumstances of her new student. I talked to the office on Friday morning, but that information never made it to the teacher.
The teacher asked some legitimate questions that I felt awkward answering with the "Sally" standing there. I didn't give the teacher much information, just that I was the foster mother and that she would be with us for a few weeks. What little I did say probably made "Sally" feel sad. Now, I wished I'd said nothing. I'm worried that now that the teacher knows that she will only be here a few weeks, that "Sally" won't get the attention she would get as a permanent addition to the class.
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Homeschool, Public School, Foster Care, Parenting
2 comments:
I pray that she will get the attention she needs in the classroom (both academically and emotionally). Do you find any difficulties having foster children in the government school system while homeschooling your own? We are considering fostering (with the ultimate goal of adopting) and this is one of my concerns. That the foster children will feel "other" when I drop them off at school while keeping ours at home or that it will just be difficult for me to juggle the schedules. Any insight you could share would be appreciated... either here or via email. My email addy is apollosacademy@gmail.com.
Thanks!
Since "Sally" has a family who wants to be her long term foster/adoption home, I don't think it will be much of a problem. If we were going to be the fost/adopt family, then I think it would be hard for her long term bonding to our family. In that situation, I would push hard with social services to get them to allow a homeschool program with a local (public) charter school.
In many ways the schedule is easier with "Sally" at school. The school is only a few minutes from our house and it is an all day kinder program. I often run errands and leave my kids at home, but I can't do that with a foster child. So, now my days are more freed up. For example, I can go back to playing the trumpet with the homeschool ensemble on Wednesday mornings that I've had to skip for the last two weeks.
I would highly recommend the foster/adoption program. It has been wonderful to have these children in our home, even if it has been only for a short time. We do hope that something works out so that we can adopt, but we are in no hurry.
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