|
Consider some of these school project ideas as you go through your elementary years of school.
Elementary School Projects
Start the year by having your parent come to school and talk about adoption. See how Jeremiah got help from his mom. Jeremiah came home from school frustrated. His 6-year-old friends were asking "dumb" questions about adoption. He asked his mother to come up to school and "explain it to them." His teacher said it would be okay.
Jeremiah's mother asked the children in her son's class to raise their hands if they live with two parents. Most did. Then she asked them to raise their hands if they live with one parent. Some did. She said, "Adopted children have two families but they live with one of them, the second family. They may have one adoptive parent or two, but they have a second family out there who loves them, too. Adopted kids are a little bit different, but, mostly, they are the same." Next, she read a storybook to the class about a little girl who had been adopted from Guatemala into an American family. Jeremiah smiled. He thought his mom did a good job.
Autobiographies
 Carlos was adopted when he was 8 years old. Before that he lived with his foster mom who didn't take many pictures of him. She also didn't know much about his birth parents. The last time Carlos saw his birth mom he was 5 years old and couldn't really remember her. When his teacher asked his 5th grade class to write their life stories, starting from when they were born, Carlos didn't tell his mom about his assignment. The next day he told her he had a stomachache and couldn't go to school.
Sometimes writing your own story may be hard because you have a lot of missing parts of your history. You can suggest to your teacher that you would like to begin your story at age 8 years or even older. If you don't think you can talk to your teacher about this, ask your mom or dad to help.
 Another idea is to begin keeping a journal. A journal is like a diary, somewhere you keep a record of the happy, sad and sometimes strange things that happen in your life. You can refer to this when you are given an assignment that involves your history.
What do you think Carlos could have done for his project?
Photo Essays
The assignment of bringing in a baby picture or something like this can make you nervous or even angry if you don't have any picture from when you were a baby. Maybe you or your parent can suggest to the teacher that students bring in their favorite picture of themselves and tell why they like that one the best.
Sometimes teachers just need some help with understanding that there are many kids that have lots of different experiences.
Geography and History
Some kids like talking about their countries of origin and
some do not. If you were born in a different country you may
be proud to tell other classmates about your native country.
But if you want to be private or are felling shy about sharing this information, you could consider another option. One thing could be to share mementos or stories about
your country of origin (Korea, China, Russia, South America)
or wherever you were born. This way you are talking about
the country and not directly about yourself.
Social Studies: Family Building
If you are old enough to be learning about Social Studies
you may hear terms like "the family unit" or "customs."
This could be a good time to write about many different types
of families in the USA today: families that have a single
parent, blended families, two mom or dad families, step families,
adoptive or foster families, families headed by grandparent,
and others.
Biology
Tasha was entering the 6th grade. She learned that she would have a science book where she would study something called biology. Her teacher told the class about a branch of biology called genetics, which is the science investigating similarities and differences between people and how your genes help determine these differences. The teacher asked the students to describe how physical characteristics, such as eye color, are passed from parents to children. Tasha found out that we get our genes from our birth parents and that this was the reason for all her physical features.
Learning that we get our genes from our birth parents can
raise some big questions for adoptees. Besides feeling confused
we could even feel a little embarrassed if we are not ready
to discuss our adoption in the classroom. If your teacher
gives a project in this area, why not offer to do a project
on Nature - Nurture?
Nature or Nurture or Both? What Makes
ME, ME?
The theory of Nature vs. Nurture asks the question: How much
do we get our skills, attitudes, and so on directly through
our genes from our birth parents vs. getting them from the
families we grow up with and our experiences in life? Maybe
you got your green eyes from your birth mother, and your freckles
from your birth father. But where did you get your funny personality
or your talent for sports? Did you learn these from your adoptive
parents or was it predetermined by your genes that come from
your birth parents?
|
