Home > Parenting Your Adopted School-Age Child

Parenting Your Adopted School-Age Child

Series: Factsheets for Families

Author(s):   Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Year Published:  2009

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School-age children—those between the ages of 6 and 12—are learning critical skills and gaining interests that will carry into adolescence and adulthood. Adoption can add layers of complexity to their developmental tasks. Adoptive parents can best support their children by learning as much as they can about child development and by being aware of how adoption may influence their child's emotional growth.

This factsheet is designed to help you understand and respond to your adopted school-age child's developmental needs. It provides simple, practical strategies you can use to foster healthy development, including approaches for building attachment, talking honestly with your child about adoption, acknowledging his or her adoptive history, using appropriate discipline, and enhancing your child's school experience. Because some adoptive families will need extra help addressing their children's mental health needs, the factsheet also discusses when and how to seek help.

Table of Contents

1 - Understanding child development and the impact of adoption

2 - Communicating about adoption

3 - Disciplining effectively

4 - Improving your child's school experience

5 - Seeking help for mental health concerns

6 - Summary

You are in section: Table of Contents 1 - Understanding child development and the impact of adoption 2 - Communicating about adoption 3 - Disciplining effectively 4 - Improving your childs school experience 5 - Seeking help for mental health concerns 6 - Summary

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Updated on March 1, 2010