African-Americans choosing to home-school

The children sat placidly in their chairs, elbows on the table, eyes forward. One munched on a clementine. A group of younger children, ages 3 to 5, colored quietly in the back.

"We lost a woman who was very important to us," announced Afrika Porter-Ollarvia. "Dr. Margaret Burroughs."

What do the students know, she asked, about Burroughs? Several hands shot up, and answers popped out: "She was an artist!" "Her poems were famous!"

Welcome to the classroom of the Indigo Nation Homeschooler's Association, where the curriculum is centered on African-American history, culture and language.

The 12 families who participate in the co-op meet once a week at the Grande Prairie Library in Hazel Crest, where they learn about the ancient art of African storytelling, lace their lessons with words in Swahili and talk about important role models in their culture, such as Burroughs, the co-founder of Chicago's DuSable Museum who died in November.

"Families feel like the American education system does not teach African-American children," said Porter-Ollarvia, a mom of three. "A lot of times in textbooks, you'll see 'Dick run, Dick go,' Jane and Jack and Jill. But you won't see African-American names like Zarifah and Muhammad. And a lot of times our children need to see their names and have a point of reference and see themselves in the books."

Home-schooling experts say more African-American families are choosing to school their children at home, opting out of public schools, which critics say may be not only failing their children, but also in some cases shortchanging them of their history.

"That is the number one reason ... the black curriculum," said Joyce Burgess, who with her husband founded the National Black Home Educators organization, based near Baton Rouge, La. "They've taken black history out. It wasn't just Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth ... and Harriet Tubman. It was also Condoleezza Rice, Shirley Chisholm; it was also Marian Anderson and the Tuskegee Airmen. They're heroes, and our children need to learn about our heroes."

Minorities make up nearly 15 percent of the approximately 2 million home-schooled students in the country, according to the National Home Education Research Institute, whose founder and president, Brian Ray, has been studying home schooling for 27 years.

Although numbers reflecting the trends and demographics of home-schooled children are hard to come by, experts and leaders in the field say there is no doubt that minority participation is growing.

"You'll hear that, all over the country, from people who organize home-school conferences," Ray said. "It's clearly rising."

Home schooling in general grew 77 percent from 1999 to 2007, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. In 2007, 3.9 percent of all Caucasian students were home-schooled, the research found, compared with just 0.8 percent of African-American students.

In Chicago, the Indigo Nation Homeschooler's Association started about a year ago and includes families of African and Caribbean descent.

One of the founders, Asantewaa Oppong Wadie, a Park Forest mother of four, said the group's curriculum was vital for her children's upbringing.

"To make sure the history of African people is primary, rather than secondary and optional," she said. "Our concern is about raising the whole human being, and that the whole human being is allowed to mature and develop."

In the last month, the students have studied the history and significance of Kwanzaa, the weeklong celebration of African-American heritage and culture.

In a basement room in the library, the children, sometimes with their mothers, have recited poems and stories of African-American poets. They've banged on African drums, played African music and learned African dance. They talk about social justice and acceptance, on topics such as an African-American woman's choice to let her hair go natural.

The atmosphere is fluid - the older students pay attention, while the younger ones either sit on laps or dance circles around the parent-teachers. A shy student softly recites a poem and afterward receives hearty applause from the other children while she gets a proud squeeze from her mom.

The students also participate with other children in extracurricular activities such as theater, dance and 4-H.

"It's just so much fun," said Jahlil Porter, 14. "I get to go to different places that other children don't get to go to. ... We got to volunteer for (Barack) Obama a couple of years ago. We went to Indianapolis and then we got to go to Grant Park. I know when I go to college, when I go to history class, I'm going to know all this stuff."



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