Hague-Compliant Training

Over the weekend we started our 8 hours of online Hague-Compliant Training! Our plan was to wake up early on Sunday and hammer out the first 4 hours. Take a break, and have Jess & Caleb over for a cookout. Then we’d kick them out and finish up the remaining 4 hours.
Here’s how our day actually played out: Slept in until close to 11 a.m.. Dave ran to the store to pick up a few items for the cookout, while I got ready. When he got home we started marinating the chicken and within minutes Jess & Caleb showed up. Whew. They left close to 4pm and we didn’t get started on our training until close to 5pm – it took awhile to get it set up... pay for the training... set up our accounts…. But we were on our way!

We hooked up our laptop to the TV in the living room so we could watch it comfortably (beats trying to fit us both in front of a computer for 8 hours). Then we got started and realized it wasn’t a video. It was more of an interactive PowerPoint presentation. It was slides that you had to read and scroll though, along with a few videos, and tests. Yep, TESTS. Yikes. Being as we read a different speeds, we knew this would NOT be a good idea to do together. So Dave jumped on the computer in the office and we did the reading on our own, and when we’d get to a video part, he would run back to the living room so we could watch them together.

So how much of the 8 hours did we get done?? About an hour and a half. Not nearly as much as we had hoped. But that’s alright. It was also a lot harder (as it was all reading) and much more in depth than we thought. We would have kept going, but the next segment was going to take over 3 hours to complete, and there was no way I was gonna make it.

They have the training broken down into 7 modules. We made it through the first two. For those interested, here’s the outline for our training….

Introduction (approx. 15 minutes)

Module 1: Hauge Convention Overview (approx. 15 minutes)

Module 2: The Intercountry Adoption Process Abroad (approx. 50 minutes)
~ Lesson 1: Process Steps and Potential Delays

Module 3: General Characteristics and Needs of Children (approx. 3 hrs. 40 minutes)
~ Lesson 1: Impact of Institutionalization
~ Lesson 2: Risks in Emotional and Physical Health

Module 4: Referral Information (approx. 1hr. 30 minutes)
~ Lesson 1: Receiving the Referral
~ Lesson 2: The Adoption Trip
~ Lesson 3: Meeting the Child

Module 5: Multiculturalism (approx. 1hr. 30 minutes)
~ Lesson 1: Making the Transition and Maintaining Cultural Heritage

Module 6: Post-Adoption and Post-Placement Reporting Requirements (approx. 1 hr)
~ Lesson 1: Post-Adoption and Post-Placement Reports, Tasks, and Benefits

Module 7: Wrap-up and Certification (approx. 5 minutes)

Looks kind of intense, doesn’t it? It might be dry reading for most, but not for us ~ we are so excited to be doing this!! Any chance we have to learn more about adoption and the process, the more excited we get. And taking classes on adoption and learning about ways to enrich our child’s future are great ways to keep us on track and to remind us of why we’re adopting in the first place!