Black Education / Schools : Blacks Take Education Into Their Own Hands

Destee

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Blacks take education into their own hands
New ground: Once dominated by whites, homeschooling appeals to more African Americans


Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, September 25, 2006

Benjamin Marshall works the graveyard shift so that he ca... Benjamin Marshall and his wife, Tanya, homeschool their c... Homeschooling Attracts Diverse Families.

Suisun City parents Benjamin and Tanya Marshall are part of a new homeschooling movement led by African American families fed up with the public school system.

Nine years ago, the couple put their oldest son, Trevaughn, in kindergarten after discussing teaching him at home. When he had a substitute teacher several times in his first six weeks, they pulled him out.

"We felt like it wasn't the right environment, especially for an African American boy," said Tanya Marshall, 36. "The teachers were young and nervous. Black males were not being challenged and ending up in special ed."

Trevaughn, now 14, has been taught at home ever since. The couple also homeschools their two younger sons, 11 and 9, and their daughter, 12.

"We wanted to be the main and driving influence in our children's lives," said Benjamin Marshall, 37. "We didn't want them socialized with marijuana smokers and pregnant teens."

The Marshalls, who had both worked as teachers' aides, feared public school would contradict their Christian beliefs, and they wanted to avoid having their sons labeled as violent or hyperactive or seeing them pressured by peers to drink, do drugs and have sex.

A desire for more rigorous academics and greater emphasis on black history also has led black families into homeschooling, educators say.

Although homeschoolers often are stereotyped as white and evangelical Christians, in 2003 about 9 percent of homeschooled students were black, and 77 percent were white, compared with a total student population nationwide that was 16 percent black and 62 percent white. Homeschoolers numbered 1.1 million in 2003, compared with about 49.5 million students in public and private schools, according to the most recent federal statistics from the U.S. Department of Education.

The numbers of black and white homeschoolers rose about a third from 1999 to 2003 to encompass about 1.3 percent of U.S. black students and 2.7 percent of whites. Researchers say the number of black parents who are homeschooling their children may now be growing even faster.

More than half the students who are homeschooled come from families with three or more children, and more than one-quarter from families making less than $25,000 in 2003, when the nation's median family income was $56,500. More than half of homeschooled students came from families making between $25,000 and $75,000. Among black, white and Latino students, Latinos are least likely to be homeschooled, at less than 1 percent in 2003; no other ethnic groups are measured.

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Destee
 
I couldn't agree with them more , while some feel peers are good
i think they not as good surrounding because they should be focus
on the subject of class , they there for learning .....I really thinking hard on Homeschooling
my kids and grandchildren maybe i can instill in them better respect / morals
while giving them the education i think they need and yes history public /private
schools just don't teach.

This was a great article that has push me more to doing it.
 
This article made some very interesting points, especially the one about the income level of those homeschooling their kids. It's the same old story, the poorer neighborhooods get the worst public schools. My kids were brought up in a very small town, population of around five thousand. So all the schools were the same, and there was only one high school. They received a pretty good education, but the town was ninety percent white, so they didn't get any black history in school. During every summer, they were required to get up at six in the morning on weekdays and study black history as well as the subjects they had trouble with in school. So they had both public school and home school. I'd be weary of children who don't get to socialize daily with their own peer group, they might get the three R's, but they will be lacking in social skills.
 
This article made some very interesting points, especially the one about the income level of those homeschooling their kids. It's the same old story, the poorer neighborhooods get the worst public schools. My kids were brought up in a very small town, population of around five thousand. So all the schools were the same, and there was only one high school. They received a pretty good education, but the town was ninety percent white, so they didn't get any black history in school. During every summer, they were required to get up at six in the morning on weekdays and study black history as well as the subjects they had trouble with in school. So they had both public school and home school. I'd be weary of children who don't get to socialize daily with their own peer group, they might get the three R's, but they will be lacking in social skills.

Not necessarily. If parents who home-school also make sure that their children are interacting with other children their ages, especially outside of family members, they will not lack social skills.

Getting your children involved in sports or other extra-curricular activities even when home-schooled will teach them "team-work" and other interpersonal skills that will serve them in life.

Parents who home-school just have to be careful of not over-protecting their children by keeping them at home all the time or only with family and extended friends of the family. Children need to know how to interact with other children who do not come from their own socio-economic background or religious affiliation. When they get out into the "real" world, they will encounter all kinds of people, so they should be prepared so it won't be a culture shock for them and overwhelm them.
 
Not necessarily. If parents who home-school also make sure that their children are interacting with other children their ages, especially outside of family members, they will not lack social skills.

Getting your children involved in sports or other extra-curricular activities even when home-schooled will teach them "team-work" and other interpersonal skills that will serve them in life.

Parents who home-school just have to be careful of not over-protecting their children by keeping them at home all the time or only with family and extended friends of the family. Children need to know how to interact with other children who do not come from their own socio-economic background or religious affiliation. When they get out into the "real" world, they will encounter all kinds of people, so they should be prepared so it won't be a culture shock for them and overwhelm them.


I agree to all of what you are saying here , but the public school system
just not cutting it for our youth/ children and the rate of drop-outs are
on the rise and been for some time .....
 

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