Newsletter #74 for Internationally Adopting Parents
October 25, 2007
PAL Center Inc.

Latest Articles
from the
International Adoption Articles Directory

Ellie Dixon
Make sure that early reading is fun!
Being able to read is essential for success in modern society and learning early reading skills should, most of all, be enjoyable for your toddler. It's one thing to be able to teach a child to read, but it's something quite different to teach a child to love reading.

Getting your toddler dressed can be a battle
Getting your child dressed should be the simplest of tasks, but frequently turns into a armed combat between you and your toddler. Even if you want them to don their most-loved sweater, a control-hungry toddler is very likely to shout an emphatic "No!" if the garment was picked without his or her being consulted and approving the choice.

Why don't young children like wearing coats?
Often you'll find it's almost impossible to get your toddler into his or her coat, no matter how cold it is outside. Though having to put on clothes at someone else's command may prompt resistance from a young child, a coat or snowsuit is probably the worst offender for wardrobe rebels.

Toddler play dates - dream or nightmare! Guideline for success
Put two toddlers in the same room together - anything could happen - and usually it does! From tug-of-war over the building blocks to wonderful moments in the play house, play dates demonstrate toddler togetherness at its worst and best. Follow the guidelines below to make sure that your child makes the most of his or her play dates.

Teach your child kindness towards animals
You might think that children and pets go together like .. well, strawberries and cream, a horse and cart ..... but that's not always the case. When children and pets interact with each other you might be led to the conclusion that whilst your kids aren't made of snips and snails, they have been put on this planet to pull puppy dogs' tails. And to tease slumbering cats, chase flocks of pigeons away from the crumbs someone's scattered for them and squash stranded beetles on the pavement.

Tulum Dothee
Children need to feel that they belong
Misbehaving children are discouraged children who have mistaken ideas on how to achieve their Primary Goal: TO BELONG. Mistaken ideas lead to misbehavior. Address the mistaken belief rather than just the misbehavior.

Bilingualism in International Adoptees:
Facts and Fiction

A strong desire of adoptive parents to keep the culture and language of their internationally adopted child is well meant and easily understood. And often parents are ready to go a long way to make it happen. But what about the child? Are they all able to learn a new language, to keep learning an old one, to compensate for the detrimental past, to fit into the unknown before family life, to make new friends, to learn how to belong to their entirely new environment... Miracles happen, and our children are very resilient, but do not rush to "ruffle some feathers as a trendsetter": what is good for one child may be not appropriate for another.

Christina Bosemark
5 Most Common Raising a Bilingual Child Myths
“Doesn’t she speak English? Oh, I see -- both Swedish and English. Doesn’t that get awfully confusing? Swedish, you said -- when will she use that?” Get used to hearing these kinds of things. You’ll get opinions from the barrister at Starbucks, your mother-in-law, even your neighbors and strangers on the street. Remember, being a trendsetter always ruffles some feathers, and the best way to deal with unsolicited advice (other than running for the door) is to know the facts yourself.

ADVANCE Newsletter from 10/19/07
Language Impairments
It was found that the children with language impairments often were only able to retell one key piece of information related to the story, a very surprising result as research on children without language impairments shows children as young as three-years-old can comprehend and retell basic scripts.

Boris Gindis, Ph.D.
Pros and cons of keeping the native language of the adopted child
If adoption is on your mind, you should think through your strategies on native language issues of your future child well in advance. Indeed, the preservation of the first language is a "hot" topic for many adoptive parents who often have to choose between their hopes and dreams and the reality of parenting a traumatized post-institutional child. The article points out at some aspects of development of your internationally adopted child, which you should consider deciding on the child’s native language preservation.

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