Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League [Hardcover]

Paula Penn-Nabrit (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2003

Home schooling has long been regarded as a last resort, particularly by African-American families. But in this inspirational and practical memoir, Paula Penn-Nabrit shares her intimate experiences of home-schooling her three sons, Charles, Damon, and Evan. Paula and her husband, C. Madison, decided to home-school their children after racial incidents at public and private schools led them to the conclusion that the traditional educational system would be damaging to their sons’ self-esteem. This decision was especially poignant for the Nabrit family because C. Madison’s uncle was the famed civil rights attorney James Nabrit, who, with Thurgood Marshall, had argued Brown v. Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court; to other members of their family, it seemed as if Paula and C. Madison were turning their backs on a rich educational legacy.

But ultimately, Paula and C. Madison felt that they knew what was best for their sons. So in 1991—when Evan was nine and twins Charles and Damon were eleven—the children were withdrawn from the exclusive country day school they’d been attending.

In Morning by Morning, Paula Penn-Nabrit discusses her family’s emotional transition to home schooling and shares the nuts and bolts of the boys’ educational experience. She explains how she and her husband developed a curriculum, provided adequate exposure to the arts as well as quiet time for reflection and meditation, initiated quality opportunities for volunteerism, and sought out athletic activities for their sons. At the end of each chapter, she offers advice on how readers can incorporate some of the steps her family took—even if they aren’t able to home-school; plus, there’s a website resource guide at the end of the book.

Charles and Damon were eventually admitted to Princeton, and Evan attended Amherst College. But Morning by Morning is frank about the challenges the boys faced in their transition from home schooling to the college experience, and Penn-Nabrit reflects on some things she might have done differently.

With great warmth and perception, Paula Penn-Nabrit discusses her personal experience and the amazing outcome of her home-schooling experience: three spiritually and intellectually well balanced sons who attended some of the top educational institutions in this country.

What we learned from home schooling:

-Use your time wisely.
-Education is more than academics.
-The idea of parent as teacher doesn’t have to end at kindergarten.
-The family is our introduction to community.
-Extended family is a safety net.
-Yes, kids really do better in environments designed for them.
-Travel is an education.
-Athletics is more than competitive sports.
-Get used to diversity.
-It’s okay if your kids get angry at you—they’ll get over it!

-from Morning by Morning

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Any home-schooling parent can learn something from this book, but it's specifically directed at the "traditional, conservative, black, middle-class way." Penn-Nabrit's account focuses on her three sons, who were in the fourth and sixth grades when their home schooling began. They had several advantages other home schoolers may lack. Both parents, graduates of Ivy League schools, were self-employed in a home-based business. Living in a university town made the employment of graduate students as tutors a feasible option. They were able to offer their sons a rich diet of specialized summer camps, cultural activities and travel experiences. Penn-Nabrit addresses the adjustments they all had to make, including the sons, who "never, ever approved of home schooling while they were participants," and the grandparents, for whom "educational risk-taking was definitely not part of their formula for success." Among the helpful discussions are Penn-Nabrit's explications of how they designed their curriculum; created appropriate space and scheduled the day; knew what they could and couldn't teach; kept their sons physically fit, humanely cultured, socially connected and academically measured; and got through the "hideous" college applications process. Penn-Nabrit's conviction that "home schooling was something God wanted us to do" and that "redemption hinged on... acceptance by at least one exclusive, competitive, Ivy League college or university" affects the tone throughout, in ways that may deflect some reader's attention from the work's more practical aspects. Still, there's much useful reflective and pragmatic content here.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Subtle but pervasive racism at public and private schools spurred the Nabrits to homeschool their three sons, an option seldom taken by black parents. The author examines the forces behind the reluctance of black parents to homeschool as well as the mounting pressures to consider it. She very candidly admits that her sons hated it, but if any secondary school's success can be measured by what colleges the graduates go to, the family's endeavor was an enormous success: two sons went on to Princeton and one to Amherst. The Nabrits, consultants who work from their homes, had the time, resources, and energy needed for the task but also the wisdom to "outsource" those classes they could not teach effectively. Penn-Nabrit recounts the nine-year experience and provides detailed information on everything from curriculum development to sports and fitness to addressing concerns about socialization. She also provides a thoughtful critique on American race relations and an exploration of an epiphanous journey for her entire family in this engaging look at one family's homeschooling experience. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Villard; 1st edition (February 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375507744
• ISBN-13: 978-0375507748
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #547,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE, May 21, 2003

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League (Hardcover)

Home Schooling is a controversial subject within the African-American community particularly those of the so-called upper middle-classes. America's public school system has proved itself a failure to adequately educate African-American children and private schools are no better. What is one to do? Paula Penn-Nabrit provides an answer, home schooling.

Yes, home schooling is a viable alternative. She should know because she and her spouse created such an environment for their sons. The results? All three young men were accepted into Ivy League schools. In viewing the results home schooling should not be ignored as an option for your child's education.

Morning By Morning takes us on a faith journey of parents who decided to take charge of the education of their sons. Ms and Mr Nabrit describe how they reached the decision, the steps they took to develop a curriculum for their sons, the criticism that they received from family members and the change in themselves and their boys as they went through the program.

Ms Nabrit shares with her readers practical information about home schooling and presents a well thought out philosophical foundation of the need to give her children a wholistic education not found in schools. She doesn't preach that her method is the only way or that home schooling is for everybody. She lays out the facts, resources and lessons learned from her experience and lets the reader make the decision.

I found this to be an excellent book by an African-American who has clearly shared with her readers the challenge of home schooling her children. She doesn't leave any aspect of the experience untouched and lets the parents know what they're getting themselves into emotionally, economically and spiritually. I certainly enjoyed Ms Nabrit's incorporation of the spiritual aspect of her children's lives in the education process. She and her husband are truly committed to a wholistic
education for their children and succeeded. This book is an example of how African-American parents can achieve the same thing for their children.

As much as I liked the book there were some philosophical problems I had with it. The Nabrits are "Ivy" League graduates as well as products of private white schools. They sent their children to private white schools and upper middle class public schools. Their commitment to home schooling came about when their sons were expelled from their elite private white school because their parents failed to pay the tuition in a timely matter. Although the Nabrits admit that this was the reason for them going to home schooling, I'm wondering if they still had the need to prove that their children could get into "Ivy" League schools because such institutions are white.

Certainly the class bias predominates throughout the work. Ms Nabrit makes sure that we learn about the pedigrees of both her family and that of her husbands who were fortunate enough to have a tradition of college educated family members. This book is certainly geared towards the African-American Upper Middle-Class.

Home Schooling is considered a risky alternative form of education. The Nabrits have proved that it can be successful and that your children can compete with anyone. If you as a parent have the time, tenacity, commitment and ability to take on the challenge by all means seek home schooling for your child. There isn't any doubt that they will do better than their institutionalized colleagues. The Nabrit's experiment proved it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth reading, March 24, 2009

By 

ScoutTN - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League (Hardcover)

This is a narrative book more than a how to book, for sure. The Nabrits' story is interesting and adds unique insights into the world of homeschooling from a black family's perspective. I do agree with some of the other reviews that the book is saturated with racial and class issues. As a product of the establishment that she values so highly, I find her priority on Ivy League (or other similarly exclusive school) education a bit ridiculous and at odds with her balanced and "holistic" goals for her sons' education overall. However, I do not think that that makes the book a less valuable resource. She does an excellent job of addressing both the big picture and many specific details as she tells their story. She does not pretend that their choices will be right for everyone or even many, but she does show the process by which they made those choices and I think that is helpful. Any homeschooling family needs to begin with the end in mind and think carefully about how they define success before they jump into the nuts and bolts of curriculum, teaching approach,schedules etc.

Things I found particularly compelling in their homeschool inlcuded: the idea of "holistic" education - intellelctual growth, physical fitness and spiritual growth; balance of depth and breadth, solo and team, fitness and competitive in athletic activities; purposeful exposure to a wide variety of fine and performing arts; structuring quiet time into their daily family life; the importance of community service; the importance of families and children interacting substantively with people of different racial, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds; the distinction between intellectual growth and quantifiable academics - all schoolwork does not produce learning; a schedule as a tool to help you accomplish goals, avoid overloading and maintain priorities, especially the intangibles, what Covey calls the important as opposed to the urgent; the significance of rituals; the necessity of planning ahead, good record keeping and being aware of the complexity of the task in the college admissions process.

This is a good read - her strong personality and humor shine through clearly - and there is indeed a wealth of ideas and information in it. She has added a dimension to the resources available for homeschooling. Good homeschooling how-to books abound, but this is something different.

As another reviewer said, I was somewhat surprised and very saddened at the description of "polite", upper-middle class institutionalized racism they encountered. Hopefully I will be more able to be part of the solution and not the problem because of the Nabrits' willingness to tell their story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for all African American Homeschoolers, February 8, 2008

By 

africanamericanhomeschoolcurriculum.com (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League (Hardcover)

I loved this book. By telling her story so intricately, Nabrit, provides the foundation for all of us who are choosing to educate our children at home. I appreciate her transparency and vulnerability in the book. She made some mistakes (along with her husband) and we can all learn from them. She also shares some brilliant ideas. This book does have a Christian theme in part because they are a Christian family. Another reviewer said it was more about race, than homeschooling. If you are homeschooling an African American child/teenager, rest assured this book IS about race and YOU WILL BE GLAD FOR IT. When you buy this book, you will read it for information and keep it for inspiration.