Belonging & Birth Country Travel

Belonging. It’s a basic human need. We all crave it, and many kids find it among their peers as they visit their birth country. Remember Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs theory? If you’re a little rusty on that, here are the Cliff Notes. Maslow held that people must have basic needs like food, water, safety, BELONGING and self esteem met … Read More

Birth Country Travel: Language & Identity

Birth Country Travel: Language & Identity This is part 3 in a series on international adoption and identity. For most kids on a homeland journey, language and the ability to communicate is an immediate piece of how they see themselves. Very few are able to speak in their birth language. As a result, their first interaction with people in their … Read More

Heritage Camps For Adoptive Families

Heritage camps are not like “tennis camp,” or “chess camp,” or even just “sleep away camp,” which are about children’s hobbies and interests. Heritage camps are about your child’s very being – celebrating who they are and where they came from. When you send your child to tennis camp or sleep away camp, they may come home playing better tennis or … Read More

Review-Stories to Grow On – Reviewing Red Thread Sisters

Stories to Grow On  My mother often suggested I put myself in someone else’s shoes when trying to understand their viewpoint or reaction to a situation.  A good story allows me to do just that.  And as a parent and educator I know that relating to characters or events in a story often nurtures real learning as opposed to the … Read More