adopting a 4 year old

Hello,

We are about to bring home our 4-year old adopted daughter. She is in foster care in Colombia. We speak only basic Spanish.  We would like some age-specific advice about how to help her adjust best to America, to our family (we have two sons, aged 11 and 15) and to begin the process of thinking of us as our family.  We did visit with her in Colombia and she spent 4 wonderful days with us, but we recognize that this is very different from learning a new language, culture, family.

How can we ease her transition?

Thanks much!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

This is a huge topic, really more than can be addressed in a Forum such as this. My advice is that you employ the resources of your adoption agency (or a referral from the agency) to develop ongoing supports arounf such cross-cultural adoption.