One of the things that happens to a child when they are adopted from a foreign country can best be described by culture shock. Not only does the child have a new home and family, but everything in their environment has changed. Everything from foods to social customs is different. Things that they considered “right” are now wrong.
One humorous example is that, where some of our kids come from, used toilet paper is placed in the trash can, not the toilet. Suddenly, you new mom is freaking out, because you threw toilet paper in the trash. Isn’t that where it goes? Now multiply that by the thousands of different little things that are changed and you can imagine how easily such a child can become overwhelmed by all the changes.
Now introduce this child into a traditional school. They may look different, they speak a different language, they have different customs they are just generally different. And different is not what you usually want to be in a group of kids. Though homeschooling is often criticized because of its “lack of socialization,” most kids can do without the “socialization” that involves being the outsider who is open game for teasing and abuse.
At the same time, many of these children are just learning what it means to be in a family. Many have not known parents and need time to adjust to what that means. Combine these changes with the ones mentioned above and the child can quickly become overloaded.
Clearly the ideal would be to give them time to adjust to the culture, before putting them in large groups of people. It would also be preferable to give them time to adapt to a few new people at one time. Clearly the family should be given priority. All of these point to a situation where the child is kept at home for some time prior to introducing them into group situations.
Obviously, homeschooling fits this ideal.
One humorous example is that, where some of our kids come from, used toilet paper is placed in the trash can, not the toilet. Suddenly, you new mom is freaking out, because you threw toilet paper in the trash. Isn’t that where it goes? Now multiply that by the thousands of different little things that are changed and you can imagine how easily such a child can become overwhelmed by all the changes.
Now introduce this child into a traditional school. They may look different, they speak a different language, they have different customs they are just generally different. And different is not what you usually want to be in a group of kids. Though homeschooling is often criticized because of its “lack of socialization,” most kids can do without the “socialization” that involves being the outsider who is open game for teasing and abuse.
At the same time, many of these children are just learning what it means to be in a family. Many have not known parents and need time to adjust to what that means. Combine these changes with the ones mentioned above and the child can quickly become overloaded.
Clearly the ideal would be to give them time to adjust to the culture, before putting them in large groups of people. It would also be preferable to give them time to adapt to a few new people at one time. Clearly the family should be given priority. All of these point to a situation where the child is kept at home for some time prior to introducing them into group situations.
Obviously, homeschooling fits this ideal.
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