Patricia Dischler is the author of "Because I Loved You: A Birthmother's View of Open Adoption", a speaker, child care professional and birthmother. Read more from Patricia here.

Cover to cover, staying true to its teen audience, Pieces of Me shares real stories of adoption from many points of view and helps the reader to fit together the puzzle of who they are as an adopted teen. Poignant, funny, heartwarming and almost shockingly honest, the poetry, prose, artwork and photos work together as pieces of a puzzle to form a picture of the lives of teens that happen to be adopted. Stories range from joyful to tragic, and where adoption is central to the puzzle or a piece only on the edges; each helping the reader to figure out how to place their own pieces of who they are.

Patricia Dischler is the author of "Because I Loved You: A Birthmother's View of Open Adoption", a speaker, child care professional and birthmother. Read more from Patricia here.

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That’s what it really boils down to: the sake of the child. Right or wrong, children love their parents – even if these parents abuse and neglect them. They are still their parents. They may come to hate the choices made, but rarely do they come to hate the person. It’s this separation that I think can help those who are working to rebuild what was broken, the counselors and the adoptive parents. Birthparents that make choices that hurt their children are often in situations that prevent them from putting the child’s best interest in the forefront. Drugs, alcohol, mental illness, these all bring them to a place where their priorities are their own needs. They simply are not capable of changing this priority at this time. But this doesn’t mean they don’t love their children, it’s more that they just aren’t sure how to do it at that time.

Patricia Dischler is the author of "Because I Loved You: A Birthmother's View of Open Adoption", a speaker, child care professional and birthmother. Read more from Patricia here.

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Parents can help teachers/providers see that pointing out a child is adopted as a single attribute of description or labeling is no more appropriate than pointing out their race. Discussion should arise out of the context of a discussion of all the attributes that makes the child who they are. Adoptive families can share with students their adoption story and help in providing information about a child's cultural background, increasing the knowledge and experience of all the children in the classroom.

Some suggestions you can provide to teachers/providers are to take time to discuss family as a general concept. Suggest they talk about members of a family, this would include step siblings, half siblings, birth families, keeping in mind there are many ways to make a family. Each child can share special things about their family, what type of foods they like, clothes they wear on special occasions, traditions they have. When teachers/providers have ongoing activities and discussions that support all families in their care it makes it possible to explore these topics with each new child that joins the group without it being an event that makes them feel singled out.

One very popular activity in exploring families in schools has always been the family tree.

Patricia Dischler is the author of "Because I Loved You: A Birthmother's View of Open Adoption", a speaker, child care professional and birthmother. Read more from Patricia here.

I wear many hats, as do most people. While one of them is of Birthmother, the hat I wear most often is of an early childhood educator and author. During the school year, I find more and more often opportunities to wear both hats! When the adoption and school come together, it is not always good. I've often heard stories of adopted children with negative school experiences. I'd like to offer some help to adoptive parents on how to collaborate with your school or child care provider to ensure your child's school experience is nothing but wonderful.

One of the challenges for every teacher and child care provider each fall is recognizing, respecting and supporting the many different types of families in their care. Over the past decade there has been a rise in adoption in the United States, and this means that more than ever teachers and providers will have opportunities to make a difference in the life of an adopted child. Adoptive parents can be instrumental in helping teachers and child care providers with this task. Who better to teach the teachers than the people who know the adopted child best?