ESL and the internationally adopted child

So, your child is going to school. Does he or she understand English? Language acquasition for fluency takes 5-7 years. There are dependant factors; how old the child is when introduced to the new language, are they becoming bilingual (maintaining first language take more effort and so new language aquasition takes longer), how old the child was upon starting to learn the new language, etc....
ELL departments are set up for kids who live in a bilingual world. There are different challenges for kids who do not. Here is an excellent article that addresses the ELL in school piece of the puzzle. http://www.adoptionarticlesdirectory.com/Article/Internationally-adopted-post-institutionalized-students-in-an-ESL-class/261

IMPORTANT travel informaion. No Skype use or is it accurate?

This news just out all over the internet. Ethiopia has apparently banned the use of Skype and other voice communication via the Internet. In fact it is a crime and punishable. You will want to take this into account when you are planning your travel.

"The country’s government recently ushered in new legislation that criminalises the use of services such as Skype, Google Talk and other forms of Internet phone calling.
The new law, which came into effect on 24 May, makes use of Internet voice services punishable by hefty fines and up to 15 years in prison."

Read the whole report, here are the articles:
http://ethioandinet.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/ethiopia-criminalises-skype/
http://www.techcentral.co.za/ethiopia-criminalises-skype/32723/

The BBC on this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18461292

Despite all the news channels proclaiming that this is real......
Another blog claims that they have investigated this and found it to be exaggerated and not as wide sweeping as believed. I don't know if this is accurate, but it is worth a read. It sounded plausable to me. Check out the news on this Ethiopia blog.  http://danielberhane.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/official-skype-and-similar-activities-are-not-banned-in-ethiopia/
Apparently the final word is not out yet, but you may be able to use Skype after all! Maybe...............

You would be wise to check with your agency and follow their guidelines irregardless. Just to be safe. 

End of school = feelings of abandonment ?

The end of a school session, whether for a short break or summer vacation, can bring a load of feelings to the surface for any child. Some kids are just so glad that school is out they give little thought to what they will miss about it. Summer or any break is the best! Other kids love school and are sad to go for a variety of reasons, missing friends, a good teacher, fear of the unknown of next year, slow adjusters to change, etc. These are all very normal for any child. For an adopted child there may be one added reason to be sad school is over, abandonment. What? Oh, it may not be the case for every kid, nor even the majority, but for some, this is as real as school itself.
I recently had the opportunity to sort this out with one of my own, trying to put myself in his shoes for a while. Imagine that you once lived with a loving family who (for whatever reason is apt to your child) sent them to a facility with a lot of children and a few grown ups (orphanage but also school), you now have grief which translates into fear of going to school at all, anxiety and nervous energy with no real good outlet. Oh, no you say, my child asked to go to school, he loves it. Yep, so did mine, sometimes it works, other times, not so well. That desire came from the hopes and dreams painted for them by those adults in Ethiopia. When you go to America you will go to school, lucky child! Or maybe from seeing older kids go and the natural desire to be like older siblings. This often translates into some anxiety that seems to stem from no where. Abandonment. Ok, so we get to the end of the year, our child understands his permanence in our family, no longer worried about school. Just in time, school is out and he crashes in a heap of tears and sadness. What? Is this attachment? Does he love is teacher more than mom? Is he just overly sensitive to change, etc? Well, maybe yes, but more likely no. Abandonment. Yep, remember he once lived at a place full of kids and a few grown ups. Then it was his turn to go with his forever family, leaving what he had finally somewhat adjusted to and he never saw any of them again.............. subconscious abandonment, will this happen this time too? No, not this time. But, what if you move? This child could relive his trauma again and will need you to explain that it is ok to grieve, ok to feel sad, to cry and say what he is afraid of. You can remind him that in the midst of change that is every so hard, good still comes. Look for it and be glad when it comes. Love lives in your heart forever even when you are not with those who you love.
Ok, so your child has been home a year or two and this has not come up. So, we are all good, home free, right? Maybe. Maybe not. This happened for our little one, for the first time, after four years home. You never know when those old feelings and scars will pop back up to stir things up. You never know, be prepared, eyes wide open. Talk openly when/if they come up and  things settle a lot faster. No, I don't think it is feeding them ideas, I think it is giving words to feelings that are buried so deep they are like a big cloud of confusion. Name it, talk about it, it becomes manageable.

Adoptive Families on line magazine

Adoptive Families is a really great web magazine. I want to share it with you in hopes that you will find it useful. Go ahead and subscribe for yourself. This month find articles on Doctors, life books, attachment, racism, to name a few. Check it out for yourself.

CNN news story about African adoptions

CNN front page article on African adoptions. This is an interesting article, vague and not very well founded, but worth consideration, and touches on the idea that some regulation is needed. Yes, it is needed, but not to halt it all. Protect the children, yes, we all want that. No one wants to adopt a child who was kidnapped, trafficked, or sold. No one.
Interesting read.

Want to know something about the 147 million orphans needing homes?

If you are just starting out on the road of international adoption I HIGHLY recommend reading this article by a fellow adoptive mama and blogger. This is going to give you a very realistic idea of who is adoptable, who is waiting and needing a family and some of what parenting that child could potentially entail.

How to choose an agency in this era of uncertainty

Choosing an agency in this adoption climate is a tricky business. Time consuming, stressful, uncertain. You can do your part by checking into the following sites to be sure you have done all you can. You can not be too careful. You also must have a great deal of faith.

Ratings
Reviews
Yahoo. Ethiopian Adoption Agency Reviews
checklist
How to research agencies for adoption
lists of agencies licensed to work in Ethiopia
Gov site on Intercountry adoption. Ethiopia
Ethiopia embassy site

Check out my other posts on this topic as well.

Country specific adoption info: Ethiopia

The Government has published a new alert and notice regarding Ethiopian adoptions. Please see their page for complete details. http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=ethiopia_14

The basic contents are:
U.S. non-immigrant and immigrant visa application fees have changed
Escort Cases
Entry Visas
Screening Backgrounds
Expedited Processing
Processing of the Not Clearly Approvable (NCA) cases
Police and birth relative interviews as part of the Form I-604 investigation
Pre-Adoption Immigration Review

General Discussion - Trends in the Ethiopian adoption.

1. A rise in the number of abandonment's vs. relinquishment's.
2. Groups of children being relinquished from the same community at the same time.
3. Adoption contracts being signed before the child is relinquished.

_______________________

This is a really information packed notice. Worth the read to understand how things are going right now.

Certificate of Citizenship and IR 3 visa. Name. Date of Birth.

USCIS on Certificate of Citizenship:

Your IR-3/IH-3 child has not received a Certificate of Citizenship

• If your child was admitted with an IR-3/IH-3 visa, but has not yet received his or her Certificate of Citizenship and it has been more than 50 days since admission, we will send you further instructions, please contact:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
130 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, New York, 14202

Attn: CCA Unit

or
Child-Citizenship-Act@DHS.gov

Your child’s name changed and does not match the Certificate of Citizenship

• If your child’s name is legally changed after his or her entry into the United States, you may file Form N-565, Application for Replacement of Naturalization/Citizenship Document. Follow the directions on the form on where to file this application
• Be sure to include the proper fee and evidence of your child’s legal name. The Form N-565 can be found at the website www.uscis.gov

Your child’s name on Certificate of Citizenship is incorrect or contains misspellings

• The name on your child’s certificate may not agree with how you want it to appear
• The information on your child’s certificate is the same as the information on your child’s legal documents in the Immigrant Data Summary issued by the American Consulate
  • USCIS can not legally change your child’s name. That must be done through court proceedings.
• If the U.S. Embassy, Consulate or USCIS made an error, it will be corrected without fee
  • Please file a Form N-565, Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document, with a written explanation of the error, mail the original Certificate of Citizenship and 2 new photos to: 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
130 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, New York, 14202
Attn: CCA Unit

• If there was an error on our part, we will correct it without fee.  However, if the information provided during the Form I-600 adjudication and visa issuance shows the child’s legal name to be the same as on in the Certificate of Citizenship, another certificate may not be issued

The date of birth on my child’s Certificate of Citizenship is incorrect

• The date of birth on your child’s certificate may not match the age you believe your child to be
• The information on your child’s certificate is the same information on the child’s legal documents which were submitted to generate the biographical information in the Immigrant Data Summary issued by the U.S. Embassy or consulate
• We must use the age as it appears in the legal documents, as received from the evidence presented to USCIS or U.S. Embassy or consulate
• If USCIS determines that the U.S. Embassy, consulate, or USCIS made an error, it will be corrected without fee.  However, if the information provided during the Form I-600 adjudication and visa issuance shows the child’s legal age to be in the same as on the Certificate of Citizenship, another certificate may not be issued.
• You may file Form N-565, Application for Replacement of Naturalization/Citizenship Document. Follow the directions on the form on where to file this application
• Be sure to include the proper fee and evidence of your child’s age. The Form N-565 can be found at the website www.uscis.gov.

Note:  Even if USCIS cannot change its official records concerning your child’s date of birth, the law of your State of residence may permit you to obtain an amended birth record or other evidence of a different birth date.  You may use that State document, to the extent permitted by State law, to prove your child’s legal age.

We lost my child’s Certificate of Citizenship

• If your child’s certificate is lost or destroyed you may file Form N-565, Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document, with fee.  Follow the directions on the form on where to file this application.
• Be sure to include the proper fee and evidence of your child’s legal name. The Form N-565 can be found at the website www.uscis.gov.

We adopted more than one child, and have not received all of their certificates

• The visas of sibling groups of children who entered together may have been separated during the certificate preparation process.  Each child’s certificate will be mailed separately.  Please allow 50 days from the date of entry into the United States for the receipt of all the certificates.

dolls

If you are interested in African American or Ethiopian dolls, you HAVE got to go over to this blog and check out her Barbies she made in to Ethiopian dolls. They are fantastic and she even shows you how to do it. Very cool. http://ethiopia.limbo13.com/index.php/ethiopian_barbie/