African-American Boys Graduate From A Holistic Home School To
The Ivy League (continued)
Penn-Nabrit: My advice for the potential home-schooling
parent is pray. Then begin the process of seriously thinking about
all the reasons to home-school. And once you have that list in your
head -- write it down because you’re going to need to review
it for encouragement in the days and weeks to come. Talk to your
family, friends, and your child’s teachers. Talk to everybody,
especially those that oppose home schooling and your child’s
teachers -- the critics will give you invaluable information!
My advice for the beginning home-schooling parent is pray. Then
you won’t need to stress every detail. Do your best everyday
with a clear understanding that everything is under consideration.
Definitely have a plan, but be prepared to be flexible and adjust
the plan to what works for you and your child and your family.
My advice for the veteran home-schooling parent is -- you guessed
it -- pray! Then keep striving for excellence with the recognition
that excellence is a process. No matter how well your process is
going, keep looking for opportunities to improve and grow.
CelebratingChildren: Please share what comes to
mind when you hear that home schooling is on the rise in the African-American
community. Why do you think this is the case? What do you say to
those who say we're "killing" Dr. Martin Luther King's
dream by schooling our kids at home? What do you say to those who
say we're taking away a priceless privilege once never given to
us?
Penn-Nabrit: I am cautiously pleased when I hear
that home schooling is on the rise in the African-American community.
I am optimistic because I am always happy to hear about my brothers
and sisters shouldering the responsibility of freedom for our families
and us. I’m a bit cautious because I know how difficult and
time-consuming home schooling can be and given the ongoing rigors
of racism, it can be a bit daunting to take on one more critical
task. I think more and more African-American parents are joining
the ranks of home schooling for many of the same reasons Caucasian-white
parents are home schooling, namely the existing educational structure
is so deeply flawed.
As for the allegation that home schooling is “killing”
Dr. King’s dream, that is further evidence of the intellectual
inadequacy of our educational system. This allegation is a tenuous
linkage between the ideals expressed in Dr. King’s famous
“I Have A Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington
and the watershed case of Brown v. Board of Education decided
a decade earlier in 1954. An intellectual analysis of Dr. King’s
dream would reveal that it was not focused on integration as a goal
unto itself. Rather, integration was seen as a critical part of
a systemic change in the U.S. political, educational and economic
structure. Dr. King’s dream was not that black children would
all go to school with white children or even that all black children
go to school at all. Dr. King’s dream was that the U.S. would
live up to its stated creed and provide equal access to all opportunities
to all citizens. Ergo, the right of African-American parents to
seek the best possible educational opportunities for their children,
without the hindrance of unconstitutional, state-supported action,
e.g., segregation, is absolutely in keeping with Dr. King’s
“dream” of freedom.
Further, the priceless privilege once denied is not classroom attendance.
The priceless privilege is the opportunity to receive an education,
to be fully engaged as a viable intellectual, spiritual and physical
being. This priceless privilege can occur -- and has occurred --
in any number of environs, including the home. There are valid critical
inquiries worth examining in any analysis of home schooling, but
they are rarely raised. Instead, we are faced with simplistic and
irrational arguments and allegations. The facile nature of these
allegations stands as a stark indictment of the absence of critical
thinking skills in this country. The ability to engage in critical
thinking and analysis requires practice, something far too few public,
private and parochial schools are able to provide.
CelebratingChildren: Wow! Thank you so much, Mrs.
Penn-Nabrit, for your time and thoughtful analysis of home schooling.
What an inspiration you have been to me -- and will be to many other
readers of Morning
by Morning. Stay Blessed!
NOTE: Penn-Nabrit's answers to home-schooling questions
continue here.
Resources
Paula Penn-Nabrit's Web site for Morning by Morning. www.paulapenn-nabrit.com
Nabrit Family Adventure. www.nabrit.com/homeschool
Penny Powell is a freelance writer from Bermuda
who currently resides in Florida with her husband, Collin, and their
7-year-old son, Caleb. Since becoming a mother, Penny writes primarily
about parenting and has also written a children's book that she
hopes to have published soon.
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