|  Penny's
SAHM Journal
April 1, 2003
My
article about Paula Penn-Nabrit and her new book, Morning
by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons
To The Ivy League, was published on CelebratingChildren.com
today. The opportunity to interview this intellectual mother
and author was such a rewarding experience for me. As a
way to share more of Penn-Nabrit's views on home schooling,
questions addressed to Penn-Nabrit will be posted here throughout
the month. Be sure to check back often to find out what
else I asked Penn-Nabrit and how she replied.
Part
1 -- Home Schooling and Support Groups
During
my extensive home-school research, I've relied heavily on
the National African-American Homeschoolers Alliance. Here
is my related question to Penn-Nabrit.
Penny:
The National African-American Homeschoolers Alliance (NAAHA)
has recently formed to keep the African-American homeschooling
community informed about related resources and information.
Did you have access to any such organization during your
home-schooling journey? Why is it important for blacks to
support these kinds of organizations?
Penn-Nabrit:
I can’t say I didn’t have access to such organizations
because we really weren’t looking for them. At the
time we began home schooling, we were so focused on what
we were trying to achieve that we just never explored the
option of support groups very thoroughly. Plus, I was so
tired of group activities, field trips, car-pooling, bake
sales, etc., that I just didn’t have a lot of enthusiasm
for another group association. But I do think it is important
for black people to support such organizations because most
people really do derive a good deal of support from associations.
Within the home-schooled community, there aren’t a
lot of opportunities for black home-schoolers to necessarily
feel connected. While there are unifying home-schooling
issues there are also issues that are unique to certain
demographic segments of that larger community. There are
different challenges based on the religion, academic interests,
intellectual, artistic or athletic giftedness, race and
ethnicity of those demographic segments. As black people
we need to support black associations and organizations
so that they will remain viable for support, for research
and for intervention.
Stay
tuned for Part 2 on "Home Schooling An Only Child."
Penny
4/1/03
Momtoaboy@aol.com
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