Whether you are a new foster parent or doing it for years, making a new child comfortable is a huge challenge for all. Every fostered child has own requirements and limitations when placed with a foster carer. However, you can make the situation smooth and stable for them by trying five things given here.
Treat them like a child
No matter how misbehaved or uncontrollable they are, you need to remember that they are kids. They had gone through many difficulties in their previous life and at foster care homes in London, and want a person whom they can trust. By becoming a foster carer, you need to fill that requirement of a reliable person to help the child grow like normal children. Even if you want to punish them for making them disciplined, don’t ever think of hitting them.
Try to understand more about the child, their fears, and likings to treat them like your own children. Think of some creative methods to teach them and to punish them when required. Try to understand the difficulties they went through like not getting food or not getting proper clothes to wear and provide a solution to these problems to win their heart and confidence.
Remember their birthday
Birthdays are important for kids and they expect their family members to remember this special day of their life. Even if you don’t have enough money to organize a huge party, make it special by giving a gift to the child or by taking them out to make them feel good. If the child goes to school, give them something special for lunch on their birthday.
Talk about their biological family
Not every child feels comfortable while talking about their birth families, but some want their foster parents to talk about biological family. Eventually, they are part of their lives and the kids had spent an important part of their life with them. Talking about bio-families doesn’t mean the fostering children don’t love them. They still need you, but at the same time, they also want to relish the good memories they had with their friends and birth family.
Understand the kids and be empathetic to them to help them come out of the situation. Answer their queries and tell the truth on their level.
Celebrate holidays and little things
Don’t you feel happy and celebrate when your own child gets good marks or performs well in sports? Then why don’t you celebrate it when the fostering children do something amazing. You can start a reward system with negative for their behavior, performance, discipline etc. and encourage them to earn as many positive points as they can. When they score well, motivate them by giving some treats and rewards. Children, who have gone through difficult times and developed negative behavior, need to strive hard to earn positive points.
It will also help them grow and develop like normal kids and gain more confidence. Remember, fostering children come from a different world and need special treatment for feel like normal kids.
Try to keep the children with you
Fostering children hate moving from one foster carer to another. They want stable fostering in London and wish to stay with one family only. It might take you just a few minutes to dump a kid and say I cannot keep them with me anymore, but think about the situation of the child. Children feel very bad and unwanted when dumped by their foster carers. This behavior eventually makes kids worse, rude and misbehaved. Though fostering is a tough job, you need to look at child’s aspect as well before making any decision.
Fostering in London is changing with time and getting more focused on the overall development of the children. Foster carers get regular training to develop strong bonding with the children placed with them. It helps foster carers provide fostering children stable and secure environment.