Tackling Difficult Emotions Through Reading: How to Come Together during Foster Parent Appreciation Month

Coming into care can bring on a mix of emotions for children and youth; nervous, worried, excited, or scared. It is completely normal for Foster Parents to feel a similar set of emotions too. 

Your feelings are valid. Your feelings are normal.  

When we experience these big emotions, we need to work through them; not ignore them. One way to tackle these feelings is through reading. According to journalist Lela Moore, reading books recreates feelings of social engagement, allowing readers to identify with people and common ground with others. Writer and social worker Hannah Sheldon-Dean and clinical psychologist Dr. Laura Phillips also says that when a parent or caregiver read with their children, it provides many benefits for both the parent and child, such as an opportunity for both to slow down and connect with one another over an enjoyable activity. 

At Tikinagan Child and Family Services, we provide many resources that foster parents, families, children and youth, and workers can read together. One of them is How We Stay Safe: Coming into care with Tikinagan Child & Family Services. Coming Into Care uses straight-forward language and bright illustrations to help a child understand what it means to be in care and importantly, understand how they are loved. Everyone working together to raise our children and make them feel safe and loved is the foundation that makes up our Mamow Obiki-ahwahsoowin Service Model. 

So, what better way to help ease both a Foster Parent and child’s feelings than reading Coming Into Care and facing the unknown together. By reading this book, foster parents will learn the know-hows of Foster Parenting such as remembering a child’s perspective, new people, new places and parts of their life that will take time to adjust. Children and youth will learn important lessons too, like what safe and unsafe behaviors look like and how their circle of care is always there for them.  

Click here to download the full book or request a hard copy from your Tikinagan worker.  

Articles Cited/Further Reading

Does Reading Help Anxiety and Mental Health? | Psych Central 

Why Is It Important to Read to Your Child? – Child Mind Institute