African-American Boys Graduate From A Holistic Home School To
The Ivy League (continued)
As a parent who has been immersed in the overwhelming “should-I-homeschool?”
dilemma for almost a year now, I studied Morning
by Morning, page by page with eager eyes and great anticipation.
Special thanks to the National African-American Homeschoolers Alliance
(NAAHA) for informing me about the release of this inspirational
book. After reading Morning
by Morning, which was released on February 23, 2003, I
took my research one step further by speaking with the author.
CelebratingChildren: When did you decide to write
Morning
by Morning? Was it your idea to write the book or did a
friend or family member encourage you to do so?
Penn-Nabrit: I officially began writing Morning
by Morning the week after we dropped Evan, our youngest
son, off at college. The idea to write this particular book came
from a friend, Lisa Wager. She saw a copy of my first home-schooling
book, a self-published work entitled As
For Me and My House. That book only covered the first few years
of our home-schooling experience, so she felt I should expand on
the story to its conclusion.
CelebratingChildren: Now that your "home-schooling
experiment" is complete, have Charles, Damon and Evan reached
the point where they can truly appreciate what you did for them?
It appears that they were given the educational gift of a lifetime
that couldn't be duplicated elsewhere. Do they agree?
Penn-Nabrit: To some extent they do. Charles, in
many ways our fiercest opponent, is still non-converted. Damon and
Evan on the other hand have altered their views. While they are
not “big supporters,” they do express an understanding
of why we made the choice. They each appreciate the efforts their
Dad and I put forth on their behalf and they certainly see it as
unique. However, they are quick to point out that these efforts
could in fact be reproduced or duplicated by other parents with
the same level of commitment.
CelebratingChildren: What are their thoughts about
your book? How do they feel about you sharing a great part of their
lives with the world?
Penn-Nabrit: They are somewhat ambivalent about
the book. They are, however, a bit uncomfortable with the idea of
strangers knowing details of their lives.
CelebratingChildren: You mention that home schooling
is not for everyone and some of those taking this journey perhaps
shouldn't be. What is your definition of a good home-schooling parent?
Who shouldn't home school?
Penn-Nabrit: I think the definition of a good home-schooling
parent isn’t that different from the definition of any good
parent. A good parent is one who consciously and consistently works
to place their child’s needs ahead of their own agenda, be
it personal, professional or political. In other words, I don’t
think a good parent would select any educational option, including
home schooling, to make or sustain a point or position. A good parent
selects an educational option based on the best interest of the
child.
CelebratingChildren: Although highly educated,
numerous parents still feel it's "safer" for their children
to learn from a trained, certified teacher. What are your thoughts
about this? Do you believe that having had some teaching experience
at the college level made it easier for you to take on the position
of teacher to your children?
Penn-Nabrit: I think anyone who is committed to
the task, is functionally literate, lives near a public library,
and is not afraid to ask for help is adequately equipped to begin
the process of home schooling. While professional training and certification
is a plus, is it not a guarantee of a good teacher -- as training
and certification cannot create a desire to seek the best interests
of any given child. I don’t think my experience as a college
instructor necessarily made my home-schooling situation easier.
In our case, I think our level of commitment to the task was the
single most significant contributing factor.
CelebratingChildren: Obviously, from the many fabulous
opportunities your children received during their home-schooling
journey, they were -- socialized. Please help debunk the myth that
home-schooled children are not adequately socialized.
Penn-Nabrit: My hypothesis is that socialization
begins at birth and continues until death. In that broadest context,
children, like the rest of us, are being socialized all the time.
We had three supporting premises to our hypothesis: (1) traditional
educational institutions are one place that children are socialized;
(2) the socialization that occurs in such institutions is not always
positive; (3) effective socialization can only be achieved after
a determination of the purpose of the socialization process.
CelebratingChildren: Have you thought about presenting
home-schooling workshops to parents?
Penn-Nabrit: Yes, I’ve thought about it a
lot and I’d love to do it -- I’m just waiting for somebody
to ask me!
CelebratingChildren: What advice do you have for
the African-American:
~ Potential home-schooling parent?
~ Beginning home-schooling parent?
~ Veteran home-schooling parent?
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