When I wrote On Being an African American Homeschooler some time back, I wrote about how being a black homeschooler could be a lonely endeavor. I also dicussed reasons why more blacks did not homeschool such as cultural pressure, economic reasons, and educational background and how those factors kept African Americans in school despite of a huge achievement gap between blacks and white.
Just two years later and the tide is beginning to turn. For the same reasons that I mentioned in the previous article, more and more black families are making the sacrifice to teach their kids at home.
Many African American parents begin homeschooling when the kids reach middle school age and the achievement gap begins to widen.
As mentioned in an article previously printed in Ebony and found at Findarticles.com,
It’s a fact that many public school systems have been plagued with problems. Four out of 10 high school students drop out and don’t return. A study by NCES on Black male students shows that 35 percent of African-American male students in 2003/2004 did not receive high school diplomas on time. For parents with African-American boys, who typically begin failing in the education system at age 14, the challenge has been to keep them in school and focused.
Basically, in my summation as an African American parent, it comes down to the desire of parents to make sure their kids finish school on equal ground with the children they begin with, even if it means they take a different approach.
On being an African American Homeschooler
*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.
* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?