CONFERENCE 2001
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By Donna Nichols-White
Donna Nichols- White is the mother of three homeschooled children, editor and publisher of The Drinking Gourd, Multicultural Home Education Magazine, and the owner and operator of The Drinking Gourd Book Company which offers books, software, and lab equipment geared towards independent learning.
This article directly addresses the myth that deschooling or homeschooling is only available to middle- and upper-class white families. "Dinosaur Homeshool" is a clear view of the often complicated and confusing process of having kids stay at home. Donna's vision and energy are obvious, as is her pride in her family.
It’s tuesday afternoon, the house is quiet, the neighborhood children are in school. I calmly settle down to eat lunch.
Suddenly, I am alerted by a strange sound-whrrr, whrrr, whrrr... I look across the table, startled. A dinosaur is lumbering towards me. I am astonished. A real dinosaur? I thought that they either never existed or were extinct.
This dinosaur is certainly real. It is about 8" high, has four legs and a long tail. He looks different from the dinosaurs I have seen in books because he is connected to several wires, has eyes that light up and makes a strange whirring noise.
I chuckle to myself. I know this dinosaur is being tested, will soon be interfaced with a computer, programmed to light up, go forwards or backwards, and make noise.
Khahil, age nine, Latif, age seven, and Rukiya, age three, are at it again. They have built a dinosaur with a toy construction set. I chuckle while saying to myself, "And people wonder why I homeschool."
I have always had my children home with me. When the boys were young I was considered an extinct or non-existent species myself, "the black housewife." Clifford and I struggled financially on his income in order that I might stay home. I thought raising babies and toddlers was one of the most enjoyable jobs that I could have.
By the time my eldest was four, I knew that I would homeschool my children. My sons were not going to become stereotypical "endangered black males." I planned for them to become intelligent, independent, and productive men.
Rarely is information about black families who homeschool offered. Three years ago I embarked upon a mission to find families like ours. So far I have been either contacted by, or informed of, over three hundred black homeschooling families throughout the United States, Canada, and the Virgin Islands. I'm sure this is only a small sample because I've discovered many of us prefer to remain anonymous; many black parents think that if school authorities discover how readily and willingly we'll remove our children from school, they will design laws to force us to bring them back. Black homeschoolers tend to view institutionalized education as a form of slavery and they fear the government will enact truancy laws, like the fugitive slave laws, more often upon black families than white families.
The dinosaur is still heading towards me. He is the sum total of four hours' worth of direction following. Instead of reading, writing, show and tell, arithmetic, etc., Khahil and Latif have been playing with their building toys. During this play they have learned physics, electronics, multi-step direction following, team work, cooperation, computing and programming-not to mention how to deal with a three-year-old sister while doing all of these things. There isn't a textbook in sight and they're learning in spite of this so-called deprivation.
You see, long ago I decided I would not imitate school. I would teach phonics, reading, and math skills, but I wouldn't spend six hours a day, five days a week on those subjects. I thought that would be inefficient and a complete waste of time.
How do I know my children are faring well academically?
When was the last time you met a seven-year-old who not only built dinosaurs but computer-controlled them? Are basal reading materials more productive?
In the United States a foreign-born person who learns English as a second language has a better chance of becoming literate than a native born Black American (most of whom were schooled). A concerned homeschool parent has a better chance of teaching their child to read than the schools do.
Is making good grades and passing tests a guarantee of a job in the future? Not by today's standards. The ability to think, be flexible, master more than one language, and possess computer literacy are the present job qualifications. How many black children are being taught these skills? If indeed they can be taught.
"What about the cost? Black parents can't afford to homeschool."
In the past three years I have met single parents, adoptive parents, welfare parents, and families who lived well below the poverty level who homeschooled their children. I know teenagers who homeschooled themselves responsibly while their parents worked.
"Well, you can afford a computer-controlled building set but most black families can't."
This is a funny one. Usually the folks who tell me this have supplied their children with the latest video game equipment. My children feel deprived because we won't buy video games; instead, we've spent the same amount of money on computer-controlled building toys.
During slavery, the white folks got the ham, while we had to live off the chitlins. The same conditions exist today. The best in education goes to rich children and we are receiving the scraps (regardless of how great our school district is). Well, scraps will not make our children independent.
I consider video games the scraps. Children sit staring like morons at a screen while controlling visual pictures with a joystick, button, glove, etc. They are learning how to sit, stare at a screen, and push buttons all day long. They are not learning how to use today's technology as a tool. Most important, they are not learning how to build, create, and think.
"Most parents aren't qualified to homeschool their children."
Do you think that I know how to program a dinosaur? No, I've already stated the fact that native-born black Americans are more likely to be illiterate than foreign born peoples. Come on, we native-born black people have been attending schools for years. It doesn't take that long to teach a child to read, write, etc. Besides, our goal should be independent, self-directed learning - a goal rarely achieved through schooling.
"But what about socialization?"
Homeschoolers tire of this question. It reminds me of what my mother told me as a child, "I didn't send you to school to socialize, I sent you there to get an education." Since when does the black community think more highly of socialization than education? I remember trying to encourage two economically well-off adult black men to build a hotel and convention center. Their response, "We can't do that yet because we have to start getting together first.” I hope my children will grow up to be producers, not party goers who feel the need to bond socially instead of economically.
After my daughter was born I started an at-home business. In addition to homeschooling I work about 60 hours a week at home. I work with my children in tow. Having received no business (self-employment) education myself, I've decided to learn my business, through trial and error, failure and success, within full view of my children. I'm showing them that families can work and learn together.
The dinosaur is ready to be hooked to the computer and I'm anxious to see if the experiment works, so I follow my children.
My children continue to build and program, read and write, I operate my business. Like hundreds of black families nationwide, we are home, they are homeschooled, and our family thrives.
This essay is reprinted from the compilation Deschooling Our Lives,
edited by Matt Hern.
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