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In this video children share their stories and emotions of what it felt like to be taken away from their homes.

Students will create blog entries of their thoughts and feelings after watching this video.

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Adopted Children: What it's like being taken away

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Many of the experiences children face prior to their adoption are frightening, confusing and disheartening. To learn more about adoption from foster care, visit http://www.adoptuskids.org.

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By: Sharlie Zinniger
This brightly colored children's book illustrates how adoption is brought about by love. This book is from a child's point of view and how he feels special now that he is adopted.

Discussion Questions:
"Adoption makes me special. It means that I am loved." What is something that makes you special?

Compare this family in the book to other families you know. Do they do similar activites?

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Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

This book is not appropriate for our family. It might be perfect for yours, but I will outline some details to help you decide.

"Was planned by God above." This is very controversial among adoptive parents as some people feel that their deity would not plan the tragedy of family separation to happen to one family just to make another happy. Another review posted just yesterday notes this.

"placed me with loving care." The book only applies to planned adoptions and didn't specify that in the description. It won't work for foster children.

The bio mother on that page has a huge smile on her face, which may be confusing for some children-- handing a child to a different family forever is a happy smile thing? That is the only reference to her. Though she sheds a tear, the smiling adoptive mother also has a tear, so there's no difference.

The book clearly intends to reference superman as "fave hero man," with a partial S on the red cape and he "found family here on earth." Superman's biological parents died in a horrible planetary disaster. That's scary.

"Adoption makes me special. It means that I am loved." I guess kids who weren't adopted aren't loved? That's confusing.

This book also seems to go beyond just trying to stay positive to a very sing songy feel. The whole book is a poem. The whole message is going from one family to another is Love Smiles Joy Happy God Yay and their planet may have been destroyed but that's ok because God planned it. I wished this information was in another review so I would have had the details I needed to make an informed decision about this purchase. If this book sounds like something that will work for your child by all means add it to your collection.

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Buy Yes, I'm Adopted! on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders

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Yes, I'm Adopted!
~ Sharlie Zinniger (author) More about this product

List Price: | $9.99
Price: | $8.49
You Save: | $1.50 (15%)

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By:Carrie Kitze
This book teaches children to celebrate their differences within their families. This particular picturebook tells a story about how one may not look the same on the outside, but could very easily have the same thoughts and point of view.

Discussion Questions/ Activities
Students will create a cultural x-ray of the characters in the story.
Students will then create a cultural x-ray for a family member and a personal one. They will then compare the two x-rays and begin to see that they may not be identical on the outside but on the inside they have many of the same characteristics.

The book starts off saying "I don't have your eyes but I have your way of looking at things. I don't have your ears but I have your way of hearing those in need..." Students will use these sentence stems and create them for their own families.

Students will create a portrait of their family and circle the unique features of each family member.

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This article explores the foster care system. It explains that when parents can't provide a safe environment for their children, the foster care system can place those children with foster families who will give them the love and care  they deserve.

Discussion Questions:

Imagine your parents or a caregiver decided to foster a child. How would you welcome him or her into your family? What favorite activities would you share? Is there a favorite meal your family loves to make together? Think of ways you could help a child feel comfortable in his or her new living arrangements.

Students will go online to research what government agencies exist in your town, county, and state to assist with the placement of foster children.

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Families come in many shapes and sizes. Some families feature two parents and lots of children. Others may include only one and one child only. Still others may of close relatives, step-parents, or a wide variety of other caretakers.

No matter which people make up your family, there's one thing that's certain: children responsible adults in their lives to take of them while they're growing up. Unfortunately, birth parents are sometimes not able to those duties for a variety of reasons.

Personal tragedies may result in one or more parents dying at an early age. Some children experience and . Psychological and physical illnesses may also make it impossible for parents to be the people their children them to be.

What happens when parents are unable to raise their children? Without parents to look after them, children could easily find themselves in a position of , unable to for themselves to provide basic necessities, such as food, clothing, and .

While some children may slip through the cracks and become homeless, many instead find themselves in the foster system. The word "foster" means helping someone grow and develop. In the United States, the foster system seeks to provide a temporary solution for children who adults to give them a place to grow and develop.

Foster parents are people who volunteer to help out children in . Although they're not the birth parents of the children they help, they take these children into their homes and provide for their needs as long as necessary.

The length of time a child spends with a foster family can greatly. It could be one night, a few months, or even years, depending upon the circumstances causing the for foster . If it appears that birth parents will never be able to resume their parental duties, children in foster may eventually be adopted by their foster family or another family.

Becoming part of a foster family can be a stressful time for any child. Fortunately, the people who volunteer to become foster parents are checked out thoroughly to ensure that they can provide a , stable home environment. They also receive special training that helps them to assist their foster children with the unique adjustments they must make.

When parents can't provide a environment for their children, the foster system can place those children with foster families who will give them the love and they deserve. Each year in the United States, over 800,000 children come in contact with the foster system. On average, children stay nearly three years in the foster system before being reunited with their parents or adopted.

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Families come in many shapes and sizes. Some families feature two parents and lots of children. Others may include only one and one child only. Still others may of close relatives, step-parents, or a wide variety of other caretakers.

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By: Jan Gilman
Murphy is a puppy that  represents a child in foster care. He is a Tibetan Terrier, a dog that is supposed to bring good luck, but when he is moved from home to home, he assumes that it is his fault and that other pups must be "good luck dogs." When the humans from his third home love him even when he disobeys the rules, he moves beyond his insecurity and realizes that he was wrong to think of himself as bad luck.

Discussion Question:
What would you do if you were in Murphy's position?

What is the underlying message behind this story

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Murphy's Three Homes: A Story for Children in Foster Care

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Murphy's Three Homes: A Story for Children in Foster Care
Product by Magination Press ~ Jan Levinson Gilman (author) More about this product

Price: | $9.95

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By: Rebecca Wissman
This book offers an overview of foster parents. The photographs and text highlight different types of foster parents and the reasons children sometimes end up in foster care.

Discussion Questions/ Activities

Students will make a chart of different families.

Students will explore/ discuss  what children who go through foster care feel.

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DealsGift Cards & RegistrySellHelp Books Advanced Search New Releases Best Sellers The New York Times Best Sellers Children 's Books Textbooks Textbook Rentals Sell Us Your Books Best Books of the Month Deals

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Amazon.com: Foster Parents (Families) (9781432946654): Rebecca Rissman: Books

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Foster Parents (Families)
Product by Rissman, Rebecca (EDT)/ Veitch, Catherine (EDT) ~ Rebecca Rissman (author) More about this product

Price: | $6.29

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This article discusses the definition of adoption and the process of adoption. There are many vocabulary words that will help children better understand the process.

Discussion Questions/ Activities
Students will have the opportunity to speak with and ask questions to a person who was adopted. Questions such as, What do they like about being adopted? Is there anything they struggle with? Learning about the perspectives of others will help students understand and have greater compassion for others.

People aren't the only thing that can be adopted. Students will explore the adoption of animals.

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Today's Wonder of the Day takes a look at how special it can be to be chosen!

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This article explores what makes a family and how their are many different families.

Discussion Questions:
What makes your family special/ unique.

How is your family alike and different from your best friend's family?

The definition of a parent is " a person who gives birth to or raises a child" How can we re-write the definition of parents.

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You may have noticed that the families of classmates at school or among your friends can be very different from yours. But the basic similarities are that members of a family usually live together. They might disagree or argue, but they are closely bound by their love and concern for one another.

Some families have one parent - either a mom or a dad. Some have both a mom and a dad. Others have two moms or two dads. If two parents get divorced and remarry, you may be seeing double - there can be two moms and two dads!

Some children live in families with parents, who care for them when their biological parents cannot. And there are parents who follow a legal process to , or choose, children they then raise as their own.

When adults getting married already have children, then the marriage joins not just two individuals but also two families into a new family unit. We call these new families "stepfamilies" - or "blended" families - because they represent a new blend of family members who were already part of other families.

In a stepfamily , the parent not biologically related to a child is called a "stepparent" (for example, stepmother or stepfather). If both parents have prior children, these children are stepbrothers and stepsisters to each other.

As many of us know, a family isn't limited to simply parents and their biological children. The word "family" is a big word that encompasses many other types of loving and guiding relationships.

Family members are often close and feel they can depend on one another for caring guidance and support. Whether it's grandparents, aunts and uncles or even close friends who make up a family, what is important is the love or common interests that bind them together.

Regardless of biological relationship, you may be a part of several "families." Your school classmates may be a family to you. Your soccer team may be a family. Your fellow Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts may be a family, too.

How many families are you a part of? What makes those families special?

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You may have noticed that the families of classmates at school or among your friends can be very different from yours. But the basic similarities are that members of a family usually live together. They might disagree or argue, but they are closely bound by their love and concern for one another.