Education

The major focus for Matt and I over the last few weeks has been Pre-adoption education. There are requirements that the homestudy agency and adoption agency have set out, and then there's just the curiosity that we have over what we're getting ourselves into. Matt is in the middle of the Hague Adoption counsel's online adoption course that is a requirement for our adoption. Its eight hours of information all about international adoption. I finished it a few weeks ago and found all the info quite insightful. I've also been reading couple of other books that are part of our requirements: I Wish for You a Beautiful Life, Does Anybody Else Look Like Me, and Talking With Young Children About Adoption.

I Wish for You a Beatiful Life is a great book full of insights about why many children are place for adoption in Korea. It is the only book we're required to read that deals specifically with adoption from South Korea. It contains letters from birth mothers written to their children as a part of the healing process following giving their children up for adoption. It gave me a much better understanding of the reasons for so many children being adopted outside of Korea.

I've started reading Does Anybody Else Look Like Me and can see it will be very helpful. It teaches parents how to deal with the questions that will inevitably come up as children recognize they do not look the same as their parents. It also gives age-specific ways to introduce the ideas of race and nationality and help children develop a healthy self-image and sense of heritage. I can see this book being one we return to time and again!

I haven't started reading the last book yet. I can only read so much at once! I'm looking forward to learning more to be prepared for this huge journey we're embarking upon.