How to Learn Black History like a Homeschooler

In writing a series of articles on thinking like a homeschooler , my goal is to help you supplement your child's education. In this article on learning black history as a homeschooler, I will discuss how to learn more about black history, as an Afrocentric homeschooler would.

Afrocentric homeschoolers focus on education that is black-positive and pro-African heritage. Many black homeschoolers add an afrocentric element to their homeschooling, but afrocentric learning can be enjoyed by everyone. The basics of learning Black History include looking for African Americans and other black people in history, learning the best and worst of black history, and celebrating accomplishments of black people in the past and present.

Afrocentric homeschooling is not anti-white and it's goal is not to vilify white people or any other culture. The goal is not to exclude what might be thought of as European history. It is meant to encompass all of history and not leave out the difficult sticky parts. A homeschooler would follow a history timeline of the world, or of the United States and explore all of the events of history from both a black and white perspective. When used alongside public schooling, it would be put into action by reading biographies of black people mentioned or omitted in school based history lessons.

The parent would have to do their research to facilitate this kind of learning by keeping up with what the child is learning in school and examining history of an Afrocentric aspect to that lesson. This can be done by keeping a copy of the class syllabus or scope and sequence for the year. You can ask the teacher for it, or in some cases, find it on the school website. Use resources like African American encyclopedia and education websites to fill in the blanks that are missed in school. Present this information to the children in the forms of biographies and other books, movies, and visits to cultural museums.

An option for a very busy student and/or family is to recap school history lessons with museum visits or movies one weekend a month.