ABSTRACT
Children form their self-image and self-confidence based on their ability to cope with school challenges, both academic and social. Schooling, as a leading activity, defines all the other aspects of a child’s life, including functioning in the family. This chapter examines the following factors that correlate with acceptable school performance based on the existing literature: age of adoption, country of origin and gender. The review of research literature combined with the clinical experience allows to establish subjective and objective factors that negatively affect the school performance of internationally adopted, post-institutionalized (IAPI) children. School “readiness” is a structured set of competencies relevant to societal expectations for a certain chronological age. The chapter discusses academic readiness and proper school placement for IAPI children. The concept of academic readiness is inherently controversial because children learn and develop at a different pace. Social skills and the ability to participate in shared activities are important indicators of readiness.
