Taking custody of my 10 year old nephew

[Anonymous]

OP you are brightening his life and the lives of everyone around him.

[Anonymous]

This is really incredible, OP. It's not going to be easy because parenting isn't easy but you are changing his life for the better. Best wishes to you both.

[Anonymous]

This may not be relevant to your situation, but I wanted to chime in since you mentioned your nephew has not been in school for three years. If he struggles with reading, particularly phonics/spelling, a great resource you may want to check out is UFLI. They have online materials, decodable texts and Google slides you can access for free (and you could also purchase the teachers manual for about $95). I teach struggling readers, and many of my students have also experienced trauma, foster care, etc. UFLI has been the most inexpensive yet EFFECTIVE program I have used, and is my first recommendation for parents or family members that have struggling readers. Although it is commonly used with younger elementary school aged students, I have also had great success using it with fifth, sixth, and seventh graders because it explicitly teaches foundational reading skills.

You may want to check out summer school programs in your area to see what resources are available. I am in Maryland, and our summer programs are about 1.5-2 hours of schoolwork and 1.5-2 hours of fun activities, lunch, recess, etc. It would also give you a few hours at home to grocery shop, run errands and process everything.

I also agree with the book recommendations posted upthread along with therapy. Another book I highly recommend for caregivers working with children who have experienced trauma is What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah. The audible narration is a quick listen and provides valuable insight on trauma and the brain.

Best of luck to you and your nephew moving forward; just remember there are a bunch of people rooting for you guys!

[Anonymous]

My cousin and his wife adopted her nephew when nephew was 14. They had a lot of money to help him with schools, therapy etc. Their own kids were already off to college.