Smart cookie

Paperwork, official documents, a home study and a dossier are just a few hurdles we have to clear on our path to adoption. Our adoption to-do list also includes 35 educational credits.

In 2007, when the U.S. signed the Hague Convention Treaty on International Adoption a minimum of ten hours of parent education was required. Most adoption agencies increased the number of required hours to twenty.  Hopscotch Adoptions, our agency, bumped their standard up to 35 educational credits. “The more you know, the more successful you will be,” is a quote from our agency.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m pro-education. My Bachelor’s degree is from Cornell University and I have a Master’s degree from Stanford University and the University of Washington. I spent over twenty years in the field of training and development. I worked at a community college for five years and taught a class at the UW for over a decade. And, I love to learn.

Study hall
That said, when I took a look at what was required of us, in addition to everything else we needed to do or collect, I felt a bit faint. First, Children’s Home Society, our home study agency required a two-day, ten hour class, ‘Adoption Orientation.’ Then, before we would be able to receive a referral and travel abroad, for Hague and Hopscotch, we needed to do the following:

• Choose a pediatrician familiar with the care of internationally adopted children (1 credit)
• Locate an early childhood intervention program or other services (1 credit)
• Arrange appropriate child care, if applicable (1 credit)
• Complete an infant/child CPR course (1 credit)
• Join a local international adoptive family support group and/or an internet international adoptive family support group and/or meet with a family who adopted internationally (1 credit)
• Complete the these online courses through Adoption Learning Partners:

1. Conspicuous Families (1.5 credits)
2. Let’s Talk Adoption (2 credits)
3. The Journey of Attachment (2 credits)
4. Finding the Missing Pieces (2 credits)
5. Cope with Grief and Loss (2 credits)
6. Adopting the Older Child (2 credits)
7. Medical Issues in International Adoption (2.5 credits)
8. Eyes Wide Open (4.0)

• Read ‘Raising the Adopted Child’ by L. Melina (2 credits)
• Read ‘Adoption is a Family Affair’ by P. Johnson (2 credits)
• Read ‘I Love You Like Crazy Cakes’ by R. Lewis (1 credit)
• Read ‘A Blessing from Above’ by P. Henderson (1 credit)
• Read ‘Boyra and the Burps’ by J. McNamara (1 credit)
• Read ‘Through the Stars and Moon and Night Sky’ by A. Turner (1 credit)
• Complete culture and heritage education (3 credits) by doing any combination of the following:

1. Watch a videotape or movie about the country, history, culture (1 credit)
2. Read a book or take an online course on the country, culture (2 credits)
3. Study a language tape (1 credit) or take language lessons (2 credits)
4. Attend a class or workshop on the some aspect of your child’s heritage (2 credits)
5. If you have not before, attend a service of the primary religion of that country or your child’s religious heritage and talk with members of that group (2 credits)
6. If you have not before, attend a cultural or artistic event in your community related to the cultural heritage of your child (2 credits)
7. Make a visit to your child’s country (3 credits)

Dear reader, I’m willing to bet you skimmed through that full-page educational summary list, didn’t you? Completely understandable. As for us, skimming was not an option.

Teacher’s pet
We attended Children’s Home Society ‘Adoption Orientation’ in August of 2007. The training was held in Tacoma, about an hour south of where we live, so we turned the two day class into a mini-getaway and booked a room at the Hotel Murano. Hotel Murano had lovely glass art exhibits housed on each and every oh-so-sleek-and-hip floor. Big Papa and I took turns calling out a floor number on which to stop and explore.

There were four other couples at the class and we were the only couple not adopting from China. We did our best to be good students, listen closely and throw ourselves enthusiastically into the role play activities. The highlight for us was the one thing not stipulated as required on the course agenda, a visit from Julie and Patrick with their adorable two-year old daughter in tow. They’d adopted Devi a year ago from India. I tried to imagine, wistfully, that one day this would be us, sharing our trials and tribulations with other hopeful adoptive parents-to-be.

By the book
As far as completing Hague and Hopscotch requirements was concerned, locating a pediatrician and intervention services was a snap. Adoption support groups are in abundance these days. There is a Washington State chapter of FRUA-Inc (Friends of Russian and Ukrainian Adoption including neighboring countries) and our agency offers an invitation only Yahoo chat group. Reading the kid books was a fun pre-snooze activity for Big Papa and I, and while the adult books took a bit longer to read through, we managed to find our way from cover to cover.

The online classes were another story. While I want to believe we’ve finally entered the age of effective and interesting online learning, the reality is that many of these courses are a snooze. We did enjoy the personal stories from adoptive kids or their parents that were occasionally included, but for the most part, the material was anything but riveting. We let months elapse between the eight courses until finally we decided to power through the remaining few classes. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that ‘Eyes Wide Open,’ the last online class, was twenty chapters long…twenty nifty little courses rolled into one! Our eyes were indeed wide open and rolling up in our heads. After we finished that course, we broke open a bottle of champagne.

A+
I can finally say that the end is in sight and ‘graduation day’ is just around the corner. We’re signed up to take an Infant/Child CPR and First Aid class. By October 2009 we’ll be able to bandage an owie and pop a chunk of cookie out of a choking child, all important skills to be sure.

That leaves one last element to our educational journey, completing three credits of cultural education. We’re excited as all get out to check that off, since we picked the last option on the list, “make a visit to your child’s country.” Armenia, here we come!