This year, instead of mindlessly picking something up in the store or paying a florist to deliver flowers that you didn’t pick out yourself, take some time and create something thats personalized for HER. Mothers Day is probably the best of the holidays to create a personalized, homemade gift basket because of the origin of the

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Fathers are an very important figure in their childrens lives. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in other issues, like work, and forget to make parenting a priority. Here are some helpful reminders for fathers in parenting their sons and daughters. Feel free to print out this list and pass it along to all the fathers in you

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Does all the Adopt-A-Highway, Adopt-A-Solider, Adopt-A-Family-For-The Holidays, send a wrong message to society about what adoption REALLY means.  I think it does. Those types of programs are "sponsoring", not "adopting. When you adopt a child, it's far different that stuffing a stocking full of candy and g

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Our new adoption forums are ready! Since creating Forever Parents in 2002, we've went from the msn boards, then to ezboard and now we're finally in our new home. Come join our adoption forums, a supportive and friendly community for adoptive and waiting families. Please pass this along to any adoptive or pre-adoptive families

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What is unschooling? In this essay, Pam Sorooshian talks about what the principles of unschooling are.  If you're just starting to homeschool or if you follow a more traditional school-at-home approach but are interested in unschooling, please take a moment to read this.  As unschoolers, we know that learning

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When you adopt a child at an older age, they come to you knowing they were adopted. But when you adopt an infant, you are the one who they get that information from. Most research suggests that a child who was adopted will  benefit from knowing early on and as they get older they will be able to understand more. Adoption sho

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International Adoption can be an extremely complex process and the better prepared you are the easier it will be.  We asked our forum members what advice they would give someone who is interested in adopting from another country. They spoke honestly and openly about their experiences with international adoptio

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I know from personal experience that older child adoption can be extremely rewarding, and extremely frustrating at the same time. It's not for everyone and not everyone can handle the issues that usually come up.  It's something that should be carefull thought out before making any decisions.  

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Creating a lifebook for your child can be a wonderful tool in helping them understand adoption.  Each one is personalized with their story. Using photos, stories, artwork and more, your child  will have a book that tells their story. This article will give you lots of ideas and tips for making your childs

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Laurel Springs and YouTube recently held a video contest for homeschoolers. The theme was "Why Homeschool is Cool". Take a look at the winning entries as well as all the submitted videos. My children and I really enjoyed watching them and were impressed with their creativity. Congratulations to all the

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One of our members, Lori Dowd of Best Light Adoption Profile Reviews shares these useful tips.

So what makes a profile work? I gathered anecdotal research from birthparents and adoption counselors. While each birthparent comes with a viewpoint as unique as a fingerprint, here are some commonalities I found in what attracts a

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Much to many people's surprise, it is possible to breastfeed a child that was adopted. More and more women are choosing this as a way to promote bonding and to have the shared experience with their baby. Here, three members of our adoption forums share their experiences. Visit our adoption blog to join our forums or share your

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I'm not a fan of bribing children to learn. Even before we removed our children from school, I hated what message rewarding them with pizza parties, candy and money (yes, money), was sending to them. These "rewards" were held out in front the students like a dangling carrot, with the promise that it could be theirs if they l

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A situation regarding the expression "oh my god" came up during a girl scout camp that my daughter was attending. It opened up lots of discussions for my daughters about topics such as freedom of speech and religion. My daughters have always enjoyed Girl Scouts and I was disapointed when this issue came up. In the end, I thin

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There was a discussion, on one of my unschooling e-mail groups, about how extended family members seem to have a hard time talking to a child when they can't talk about school. It's like the only questions anybody can think of to ask a kid is "what grade are you in?", "what's your favorite subject?" and "how are you doi

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