Yo creo de todo corazón que el homeschooling es la mejor opción para mis hijos. Yo, como su madre, saber qué es lo mejor para ellos. Me he tomado el tiempo de aprender y sus rasgos individuales. Yo la uso para hacer la mejor decisión informada acerca de su educación.
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This pretty much sums up my views:
“The schools want little black boys to behave like little white girls, and that’s just never going to happen. They are different” said Cheryl Fields-Smith, an education professor at the University of Georgia. “I think black families who are in a position to homeschool can use homeschooling to avoid the issues of their children being labeled ‘troublemakers’ and the suggestion that their children need special education services because they learn and behave differently.”
This is not about hating white people. I don’t. Some of my closest friends and colleagues are white. One of my best friends is white. This is about how I feel that the public school system has failed children of color, predominately African American, and Latino children. It truly is a system that is not designed to serve them or keep their best interests at heart. It is also designed to oftentimes go against the basic moral and religious values of most families, regardless of color or race.
1). I want to teach my children what I want them to learn.
There are some things that I want my children to learn and some things that I don’t. I think it is important for families to be able to incorporate their values and beliefs into their children’s education so that the children will carry those on. I also feel that some curriculums are better than others. And, I want my choice in that. I also think it’s important that children are infused in learning that actually helps them succeed in life, not just academically. There are some things that are completely useless but being taught in schools. And other things, such as balancing a checkbook, investing, or how to live on your own, that are never once mentioned in school.
2). I want to teach my children about themselves.
My children are unique, to me and to themselves. I know that every parent believes this about their children and they should. But I truly feel my children are. Not just because of their amazing personalities and the things that they have accomplished, but who they are genetically and culturally. Just like I am multi-racial so are my children. I come from Haitian and Puerto Rican parents. Their father, my ex-husband, was born in St. Croix with his family ties coming from Guyana and Denmark. Can you point me to a curriculum that includes that? Nope. I want to be able to teach my children about their ancestors and who they are on my terms, not that of someone else. I want them to be taught about heroes that look like them as well as incorporate others such as Shakespeare and Thoreau. Notice that I said to incorporate the others, opposite of how non-European races are “incorporated” into mainstream education.
3.) I want my children to see themselves in the curriculum that they are taught.
I want my children to be taught by those who look like them with icons and ideas that they can look up to that also look like them. In a traditional setting, Martin Luther King is almost always the only African American that is taught. Occasionally, there is Roberto Clemente for the Latino and Afro-Latino population, but rarely. There is a world of others that are purposely left out. An important component of this is to also be taught by someone who looks like you. Just on a basic human level, it is far easier for one to understand information as it is being taught by someone who looks like them than it is from someone who doesn’t. I read on one educational journal site “Nationally, about 7 percent of the teaching force is African-American, compared with 17 percent of the student body “. That means that there are not a lot of teachers of color teaching the many students of color.
4.) I do not feel obligated to uphold the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling.
For some, this may be hard to grasp so let me explain. I honor it for what it was and is, but I do not feel obligated to have my children attend public school because of it. Truth be told, schools are still very segregated to this day. Blacks and Latinos attend some of the worst schools in this nation. In predominately white schools, those students have access to more than twice the amount of funding than predominately Black and Latino schools. As a result, lack of books and supplies (oftentimes, students have to share these), less pay for teachers, and lack of support programs and extracurricular activities for the students. Many times, students in these schools are not expected to perform as well as their counterparts. Classrooms themselves are also segregated. I have taught in rooms where there are only 1 to 2 children of color or all children of color are simply grouped into one room together.
Black children “are treated as though they are not as intelligent and cannot perform as well, and therefore the standards for them should be lower.”
5). I believe that traditional school is just a free babysitting service for most families.
Kids are expected to sit in a classroom at a desk for hours on end. They barely get a chance to be active at all during the day. For most students, recess is only offered for 30 minutes a day with PE only being offered on rotation. They are expected to stay seated, keep their hands at their sides, not able to engage in real discussion and a host of other issues. I do believe that there are some great teachers. There really are. I have met them and taught alongside them. However, the politics of the school systems run schools like a babysitting service rather than a center for education. This leaves teachers in the position of a bystander rather than a proactive component of education. Mandatory testing doesn’t help the situation nor does it actually determine a child’s ability to succeed in life.
6). Traditional school is extremely expensive.
School uniforms. For the time period that I placed my children in public school while I completed my internships and semester teaching experiences, I had to buy uniforms. I have spent more than $200 per child on those. Just the clothes, not including socks and shoes. Then there are belts. There are school supplies. Yes. Schools send home a list of supplies needed for each child. When you factor in the supplies, book bags, cleaning materials (teachers ask for Lysol, wipes, tissues, 409, and a host of other things). And there are lunch boxes and lunch kit supplies. One child can easily add up to $600. I have 3! Don’t forget about field trips, school spirit shirts, PTA dues, and other fees. I can easily homeschool my entire brood for what it costs for one child per year.
Hasta Pronto!
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Hi! I’m Kat aka Mama Dot! Nice to meet you. I’m a homeschooling mom of three boys. By day, I run a mom’s blog (Being Mama Dot) and subscription service (Wombology). In my downtime, I create resources for families homeschooling children of color at Our Learning Curve. I love coffee, reggaeton (music in Spanish), knitting, and reading. My favorite thing to do is to feel my feet in the sand. #beachbum. Currently, I am an MA/Ph.D. student in Africana and Latin American studies. When I am not in school, I spend my days running my online business and taking care of my little ones. Make sure to check out OLC’s Instagram, Twitter, or join us over at Facebook.
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