Session 1/15

At the end of each session, you decide on a work plan. The first work plan between sessions is very simple. It’s just a planned observation of your children in certain daily situations. If you have a cell phone with camera you can make short recordings. If not, you can write notes, or you can just remember what you observe.

Here are some suggestions (you can adjust the work plan if you think other activities are more useful):

1. You can pay special attention to one child’s behaviour: when is he or she most happy, when is he or she most sad? In what daily activities does he/she have the best contact with the foster parent(s)? How is the child’s contact with other children – is it very social and outgoing, or does it keep to itself most of the time? What does the child do when it’s afraid or needs care?
2. Which children in the foster family most often seek help and comfort from the foster parents? What situations do the children enjoy the most? What child is most difficult for the foster parent to cope with or understand? What child is the foster parent most worried about, and why?
3. Babies and toddlers: Does the infant seek for care and comfort from you, or is it passive or crying much? Is it easy to put to bed or does it panic when you leave?
4. Children 4-12: Does the child play much, or does it seek for security and loses interest in play much of the time? Is it difficult for the child to leave for daycare or school? Is it interested in learning in school?
5. Teenager aged 13 and up: Does the teenager have friendships with peers? Is the teenager self-confident and outgoing, or shy and withdrawn? Is he or she angry or disappointed much of the time?

When you have planned the activities, please decide: When will you do this, when does it fit best into your daily work? Where will you do it? And how will you take notes or just remember what you try, and how it worked?