Gayle H. Swift's Blog, page 14
August 24, 2015
Bedtime Rituals That Soothe
touches upon important themes: family, community, gratitude, hunger, etc. No particular faith is indicated so this lovely book can be treasured by Christian, Jews, Muslims, etc....Adoptees have direct experience with loss, grief and sadness, thus they can easily identify with the spirit of this story. The boy's example of a hopeful heart models one strategy that a child can use as they handle the difficulties of their own lives. The boy's prayer validates his observations of the hard stuff of life. He doesn't turn a blind eye or minimize what he knows to be true. Adoptees can use this story line as a model for sharing his own "hard stuff" with the expectation that his family can listen, validate and support him.
August 17, 2015
Making Dreams Come True
Michaela's story is one of resilience in the face of adversity and dogged persistence of an important goal. Inspired by her dream, she allowed nothing to prevent her from realizing her heart's desire. This book clearly shows that her success did not come easily. It resulted from her hard work augmented by collaborative resources and a team of people who supported Michaela.
Her story exemplifies another important adoptee lesson in trust: to rely on others, to depend on their support and to believe that they will be there when needed. Many adoptees have an abiding fear of rejection. This can tempt them into hiding their true wishes and/or replacing their own dreams with the wishes of others. Michaela's story provides an inspiring model for following one's own path. It also shows that success is usually a team effort. Many people supported Michaela along the way. She had to agree to let them in, to expose her innermost dream and be vulnerable to their response.
Her story exemplifies another important adoptee lesson in trust: to rely on others, to depend on their support and to believe that they will be there when needed. Many adoptees have an abiding fear of rejection. This can tempt them into hiding their true wishes and/or replacing their own dreams with the wishes of others. Michaela's story provides an inspiring model for following one's own path. It also shows that success is usually a team effort. Many people supported Michaela along the way. She had to agree to let them in, to expose her innermost dream and be vulnerable to their response.
August 15, 2015
Sibling Relationships, Learning to Get Along
Helping our children navigate the changing seas of sibling relationships is one of many important tasks faced by parents. All children experience feelings of inadequacy, rivalry and anger. For adoptees, this emotion is poignant and frightening. The flip side of "not good enough" is an intense need for attention. Readers will identify with Lily's frustration. They can benefit from the strategies modeled in the book. The lush, pastel watercolor illustrations evoke a soft contemplative mood. The presence of Asian characters add a welcome note of diversity.
August 10, 2015
Embracing Our “Differentness”
Adoptees often tell us that they struggle to fit in, so it is easy to see how this simple story can help them get in touch with those feelings. The spare text and delightful, spare illustrations combine to create a simple but powerful metaphor. All of us benefit from the reminder that our uniqueness deserves to be treasured and appreciated.
July 27, 2015
What Makes a Family? Connection and Difference in Adoption
Families can look very different but still be a family....This is important for all adoptive families, even those who are more normative because all adoptive families are "different" by virtue of the fact that they grew through adoption. We have a fundamental vested interest in tolerance and acceptance.
July 20, 2015
Summertime and the Living Is … Easy?
Summer offers a wonderful opportunity to build positive memories of time having fun together. Fun is FUN-damental to building strong family ties. It’s a Firefly Night by Diane Ochiltree captures one delightful moment. The reader senses that this is a treasured ritual that the child shares with her daddy an something she will treasure down the years of her life. Betsy Snyder’s luminous art brings the rhyming/counting text to life. Children can make a game of searching for and tracking the number of bugs, flowers, etc. And have fun in the process!
July 13, 2015
Stormy Skies for “Cloudette”
It’s easy to feel insignificant in a big and sometimes scary world, just like little Cloudette. In Tom Lichtenheld’s Cloudette, adorable pictures are mixed with a “big” message teaching us that sometimes you have to look at the beyond to...
July 7, 2015
EVERYBODY’s Got Talent
School is one environment where kids makes rapid--and inaccurate--conclusions about their abilities. They decide if they are smart or not, capable or not, interested or not ... AQ* Lens: Encouraging and nurturing competence is an essential part of parenting--especially adoptive parenting. Grief and loss issues chip away at self-esteem. It requires intentionality to build confidence, pride and capability on evidence that kids can believe and trust. One tiny step at a time, parents can help children build experiences of success onto success. It takes time to establish this resilient attitude.
June 15, 2015
Puddle Jumping to Fun and Connection
An apt choice for a summer read. Muth's watercolors serve as the perfect medium to illustrate the book. Told in free verse readers can identify with Tessie's yearning for the respite of some rain. In spare text, Hesse presents characters using a few, revealing details that flesh them out. When the rain finally comes, readers will feel their joy and yearn to bare their own feet and puddle-jump in the first available rain.
June 8, 2015
What Makes a Family?
Families need not "match" to go together; they are created by caring and love. Families come in all shades and groupings—bio families, step families, foster families and adopted families.
