Developing a Foundation for Learning with Internationally Adopted Children

This practice-focused guide introduces The SmartStart Toolbox as a remedial program to help mental health professionals and adoptive parents promote the educational and social development of internationally adopted children aged 4-8. Recognizing the cultural, emotional, and cognitive needs of children who have experienced a fundamental change in their social situation of development following international adoption, The SmartStart Toolbox provides a range of family-based remedial activities which stimulate children's thinking and learning while creating scaffolded attachment opportunities during early interactions with their adoptive families. The volume details the notions of "psychological tools" (Vygotsky) and "mediated learning experience" (Feuerstein) which form the theoretical foundations for The SmartStart Toolbox and offers step-by-step guidance on conducting activities and adapting them to the individual child. The SmartStart methodology can also be used by professionals for diagnostic purposes. This text will benefit researchers in child psychology, as well as clinicians, family therapists, social workers, and educators with an interest in child development, cognitive and language enhancement, and adoption and fostering more broadly. Adoptive parents will also benefit from this book and its focus on themes of attachment, parenting, and the development of social cognition.

Boris Gindis is a licensed psychologist, specializing in Childhood Trauma and Psychology of International Adoption. Carol S. Lidz is a retired licensed psychologist and nationally certified school psychologist, consultant/trainer in Dynamic Assessment.

Introduction: The SmartStart Toolbox Program. 1: What we have learned from three decades of international adoption on a large scale. 2: Theoretical background and specific features of the SmartStart Toolbox Program. 3: Seven Units of the SmartStart Toolbox Program. 4: The SmartStart Toolbox Program as a Basis for Diagnosis and Prescription. Conclusion: How the SmartStart Toolbox Differs from Other Remedial Programs