2006 African American Almanac Wall Calendar

Enjoy a year filled with the diverse heritage of African-American culture and the enriching gifts it has given to the world. One day at a time, you'll discover people—past and present—who have contributed their talents and wisdom to business, literature, religion, human rights, politics, the arts, entertainment and sports. It's a year of facts and inspiration that you are sure to love.

2005 Homeschooling's Best Award Recipients Announced

The awards, sponsored by Calvert School, recognize people who have improved homeschooling in four categories -- Hero, Pioneer, Advocate and Voice.

Homeschooling’s Best Pioneers -- Joyce and Eric Burges of Baker, La. When Joyce and Eric Burges began homeschooling in fall 1989, the couple was one of the few African American families who had chosen this option. Realizing that little information was available to the black community on resources and how to go about homeschooling, Joyce and Eric Burges formed an organization, the National Black Home Education Resource Association, to provide black families with information and resources to homeschool. Since its start in 2000, the group has continued to grow.

In 2002, the group expanded its reach through the Internet with a Website, http://www.nbhera.org/, which Joyce Burges describes as “a place where people can go and feel the warmth that a homeschool family’s home would have.” The site features links to state laws, local contacts, how to homeschool information, and hurricane relief resources. In addition to the Website and the organization, Eric and Joyce Burges, a professional singer and homeschool mother of five, take part in more than 25 interviews a year about homeschooling. Eric Burges is a budget manager with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

The growth of the National Black Home Education Resource Association parallels the growth in homeschooling among African Americans.

Congratualtions to the Burges Family!

Home - The First School

Jamaican journalist and author Barbara Blake Hannah writes about her unschooling experiences in Home - The First School

Mary Griffith, in her book The Un-schooling Handbook - How To Use The Whole World As Your Child's Classroom, noted that "unconventional learners took a variety of paths for their education".

Some, she said, "had formal tutors to present material their families thought necessary for their education. Some read widely and voraciously. Others accompanied their parents in their work or on their travels; their 'lessons' were simply side effects of the way they spent their time".

It's this same style of unstructured, holistic 'education' that I raised my son with, thinking I was 'home-schooling' him and not even knowing that I was actually un-schooling him. I had no formal programme, and I just did what seemed necessary at the time to teach him what he needed. Most of my work was done by reading books to him.

Read more excerpts from the book here.

Three Kings and a Star Tells the True Story of Christmas -- illustrated for African-American Children

Retold and illustrated by Fred Crump, Jr "Meet the three wise men and follow the story of the nativity from the angel’s announcement to the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Your kids will learn about the obedience of Mary & Joseph, the journey to Bethlehem, King Herod’s plot and God’s gift to the world. Beautiful, full-color illustrations vividly demonstrate the miracle of Jesus’ incarnation."

UMI (Urban Ministries, Inc.), the largest independently-owned African American religious media communications firm in the United States, has been creating magazines, books, videos, DVDs, music and crafts for the urban and African American communities for 35 years.

Order your copy of Three Kings and other culturally appropriate Bible study resources today!

AllAfrica.com -- Daily News & Information from the Continent

Newspapers are an excellent homeschooling resource providing a fun way to explore geography, social studies, science, economics and more. Expore all these subjects and make it culturally appropriate at AllAfrica.com where content from 125 African news organizations is aggregated and indexed. News can be searched by region, country or topic.

20 Ideas for Raising A Smart Homeschooled Child

Ever wonder what successful homeschooling parents do to encourage a life-long love of learning? Check out the National African-American Homeschoolers Alliance's Top 20 List. Here are the Top Five Ideas:

1. Get your child a library card. Make sure she uses it.
2. Don't put a television in your child's room. Minimal learning takes place in front of the tube. Fill your child's room with books instead.
3. Turn off the TV and read to your child every night. TIVO any show you think you'll miss. Watch it when she's asleep.
4. Encourage your child to explore outside -- in nature -- and then help her learn more about what she observed outside in books.
5. Don't buy another video game for your child. Buy him books instead.

Homeschool Fast Track: A Personalized Introduction to Homeschooling for African-American Families.

Many homeschooling groups report a record number of inquiries during the months of December and January. Why? Because many students receive negative report cards/evaluations from their schools that some parents feel are inaccurate.

True Story: It's Fall and a recently relocated homeschooling family enrolls their 6yr old in a A+ school district in a predominately white community. As per the school policy requiring testing for all homeschooled students, the school tests the child and determines (to their amazement) that he performs at the 3rd grade level. The school wants to place the child in a 3rd grade classroom, but after much insistence from his parents that he remain with children his own age, the school agrees to place him in the 1st grade "Gifted" program.

Immediately, the parents notice changes in their son's attitude and behavior. They receive phone calls about their son causing disturbances in class. Notes are sent home about incomplete assignments and poor test scores. Come January, the school recommends that the child be removed from the gifted program and placed in a special education classroom pending evaluation for ADD/ADHD.

Fortunately, for this family, they knew they had options and immediately withdrew the child from school and resumed homeschooling. But there are other families who may not know where to turn or how to get started homeschooling. Enter Homeschool Fast Track, created especially for African-American families who want to know more about homeschooling.

Each Homeschool Fast Track is individually designed to address your family's unique interests and needs and shows you:
How to legally homeschool in your state;
How to assess your child and create a personalized curriculum that exceeds state standards;
How to find FREE and discount learning materials;
How to introduce homeschooling to your child, spouse, parents and friends and gain their full cooperation (even your in-laws will want to help!);
How to find African-American and other homeschoolers in your state, and More!

More Black Families Homeschooling

Associated Press Writer, Zinie Chen Sampson's article, "More Black Families Home Schooling" (sic) provides a cursory look at the growing number of African-American families who are choosing to homeschool. She also includes an interesting quote from an education professor at the University of Wisconsin:

Apple, the Wisconsin professor, said improving public education for the greatest number of students depends on mass mobilization by concerned parents, but he raises a cautionary note.

"They're trying as hard as they possibly can to protect their children, and for that they must be applauded," Apple said. "But in the long run, protecting their own children may even lead to worse conditions for the vast majority of students who stay in public schools, and that's a horrible dilemma."

Hmmm...so "real" concerned parents should sacrifice their children to a flawed system, so that the "majority" can continue benefiting from the status quo.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Homeschooling Growth aided by African Americans

From The Chronicle:
"Parents choose home schooling for a variety of reasons, St. Marie said. Like Marlin, some feel that their child's learning style is better suited for the individual education that home schooling can provide; others want to give their children that balance between the three R's and religion that public schools can't provide.

The latter drove Derek and Cheryl Carter to pull their child out of public school eight years ago. The Carters say they wanted to be the primary influencers of their child's morals. ''Somebody else's values may not be the same as ours,'' Derek Carter said. The Long Island, N.Y., couple now have three children, all of whom are educated at home by Cheryl Carter. Both Derek and Cheryl Carter run ministries that advocate for faith and family. They were among this year's conference speakers. Combined, they led nearly a dozen conference seminars.

The Carters and Marlin are among a growing number of African-Americans who are choosing to home school. Cheryl Carter says the number of Blacks home schooling is growing at the rate of about 10 percent a year. She believes more Blacks would be on board if they knew that home schooling does not require a ton of money or that a home educator be a rocket scientist. 'They just need encouragement that they can do this,' she said."

Read the article from The Chronicle in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Choosing the Alternative: African American Homeschoolers

A student of Dr. Asa Hilliard at the University of Georgia is writing her doctoral thesis on African-American Homeschoolers. Meca Williams hopes the research in her dissertation "Choosing the Alternative: African American Homeschoolers" will "dispell the notions and troublesome comments parents receive when others ask 'well what makes you so qualified to teach your children?' As crazy as it sounds, I have had many people tell me that pro-school folks believe that parents do not have the necessary qualifications to teach their children academic subject matter. The purpose of this survey to describe how parents feel about their teaching and their teaching beliefs -- even if they consider it a part of parenting."

I had the privilege of speaking with Ms. Williams yesterday and offered to pass information about her survey along to others who may be interested in participating.

If you would like to take the survey, please email Meca Williams and let her know you heard about it on African-American Homeschooling Today!

Welcome to African-American Homeschooling Today!