Being a foster parent can be a very challenging task. You have opened your heart and home to a child that needs love, care, and a safe environment to grow in. At the same time, you have to deal with a child's feelings when it comes to missing their biological parents, and the confusion that they are experiencing due to being in a new home with a new family. Often times, this is not easy, because the child may act out and misbehave. They might also not do well in school because of low-self esteem and not having the feeling of acceptance.
We offer a section for foster parents to get tips and ideas on how to help their child succeed in education. We outline the importance of communication skills as well as the motivational impact that can make a huge difference in a child's life. Teachers and parents both can work together to ensure the educational success of a foster child.
How Foster Parents Can Help in a Child's Education
Foster parents can play a vital role in a child's education. The duties and responsibilities of foster parents are more compared to biological parents. At times, children might feel distant or develop an isolated attitude towards foster parents. Also, children can feel depressed because of being away from their parents. This is where the duties of foster parents increase. However, they aren't working on this alone - a teacher's interaction with foster parents is also very important to improve the study skills of children. You are more aware of a child's performance when it comes to education, thus you need to convey whatever they think about it to foster parents.
Here are some tips on how you can make foster parents help their children in education:
Communication is the key
As mentioned earlier, teachers can do a big favor to foster parents and children by discussing the latter's performance with foster parents. If this is not possible on a weekly basis, teachers can have a performance review on a monthly or bi-weekly basis. This can help foster parents know where their child is lagging and what he is good at. Together with you, foster parents can work on their child accordingly and make him improve.
Keep things transparent
Teachers need to realize that foster parents might not be totally aware of how the child behaves in certain situations. Therefore, it is your sole responsibility to make sure that you discuss the behavior, performance, and other similar things with foster parents. Needless to say, this can be done on a weekly basis so that the parents are updated regularly.
Maintain lesson plans:
By maintain lesson plans and discussing them with foster parents, you can help a great deal. Foster parents would know what the teacher will do in the next week or what she has already done in order to work with the child accordingly. Maintaining lesson plans can also help teachers in discussing the performance of the child with parents.
Motivate them
At times, foster parents feel that they cannot help the child learn properly because of the way the child behaves with them. Teachers can play a great role here. They can motivate foster parents and advise them on how they can get closer to the child. You can also assist foster parents by sharing your lesson plans with them and asking them to follow the same pattern. Foster parents can work with the child at home by knowing the lesson plans.
Their behavior with the child
At times, foster parents might not be aware of how their behavior is affecting the child. These effects can be both negative and positive. You can really help by telling foster parents how their child behaves, and whether it is due to their behavior or not.
Teachers should realize that children who have foster parents are already going through a tough phase, therefore they should try to bridge the distance between foster parents and the child. It might not be a duty, but the teacher will do a huge favor to the child and his parents.
Foster Parent Resources
- Canadian Foster Parent
- Fostering Love
- FosterParenting.com
- Is Foster Parenting For You?
- Kids in Care
- Staying with Grandma