Our first class was Thursday night. It was interesting- to say the least. We have two instructors, KR- who is a social worker, and FJ- who has been a foster parent for many years. The two of them take turns going through the information. KR tells the way things are suppose to happen and FJ tells you a real world case scenario from experience. The class started with an "introduce yourself" exercise. I just hate those- I think people say the weirdest things. But we muddled through it. Due to some of the responses, I think the classes will be full of laughs and a lot of great people watching [well, for me at least :-)].
The biggest part of the class was the twelve statements of "Strengths and Needs" that we'll have to learn. For instance- the first is Know Your Family. This seems silly to just see it on paper, I mean, it's just me and Stephen-- I think we know our family already. We've been a family for almost 15 years! But we have to identify a strength and a need related to knowing our family. So, it may seem like a silly statement, but it makes you think, right? How well do YOU know YOUR family? Could you identify a strength and a need? It's more difficult than I thought.
The other portion of the class was identifying characteristics of a child's behavior that relate to the type of abuse or neglect they experienced. For instance, if a child was abandoned, they may exhibit clingy-type behavior when they come into your home. Some of it seems like common sense, but I feel like it was good information to know.
And we have HOMEWORK! But, it's not too difficult. We both have to answer questions regarding our strengths and needs. The other portion is getting the first part of the paperwork completed. We have to turn in an application and a financial statement this Thursday.
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