African American Homeschool – African American Parent View on Education

As an African American mother and a single parent homeschooler, it is important that my son receives an education that will prepare him for college and for life. My son, David, is 10 and in fourth grade. As an African American male child, it is vital that he receive a superior education. There is much adversity he will face in the adult world and not being prepared for college is one concern he should not have.

The Decision to Homeschool

My son and I tried two public schools before I decided to homeschool him. We began the 2006 school year at a magnet public school. He complained that his first grade work was "baby work" and "boring." Next, we tried a virtual school that required me to teach him for five hours a day at home. This did not work either because David is a fast learner who loses interest quickly.

Finally, I decided I would homeschool. I managed to work at home so that I could stay with him. A few years have passed since then, and although economic conditions caused me to stop homeschooling for a brief time (two months) in 2008, we returned to homeschooling.

Although we are now in our fourth year of homeschooling, I still feel most comfortable with using a curriculum. I want to know that my son is learning at, or preferably above, grade level. Currently, we are using Time4Learning to assess everything he has learned, find out if there are any things he has forgotten, and if so, we review those subject areas. The great thing about this curriculum is that he can redo lessons.

Searching for the Best Homeschool Curriculum

My major problem at the outset was that I had no curriculum and could not afford an expensive one. Initially, I used worksheets, a free labor intensive curriculum, and miscellaneous books. Yet, I did not feel confident that David was learning all that he should. While doing an Internet search, I found Time4Learning. I tried the demo and was convinced that my son would like it. The first time he used it, he was totally enthralled. Since we only have one computer and I work from home, I have to schedule David's computer time, which is no easy feat, because he is so enthusiastic about his lessons.

Now that I am successfully working from home, I could purchase other more expensive programs. Yet, I have not found the need to do this because Time4Learning is an excellent one, not only because of the price, but also because of the content.

After using this online curriculum for a few years, the joy is still there for David. He will often ask me on the weekend if he can use the computer to do Time4Learning.

Success with Online Homeschooling

The language arts curriculum helped David learn to read; he is now in fourth grade and is reading at a seventh grade level. When he began with Time4Learning he had a pretty noticeable articulation disorder, but speech therapy and the phonics included with the language arts helped him overcome it. He is down to one speech therapy session a month, when he used to have one session a week. He rarely worries about making a mistake when reading now, but when he first began Time4Learning, he hated to read aloud. However, after he began repeating words and sounds after listening to the audio in the language arts program, it boosted his confidence level.

David also loves the math program and is progressing through it at his own pace. Math is not his favorite subject, but the way it is presented in Time4Learning is a big hit with him. He says it is fun while I find it both challenging and entertaining.

Thoughts on Time4Learning

Time4Learning has not only helped my son, David, but has also helped me greatly. It is a core curriculum which I supplement with books, lessons, projects and classes via a homeschool co-op. For me, Time4Learning is a big part of his education and he is enjoying it, which makes for a happy son and an even happier mama.

Because David does his lessons independently, this frees up time for me to work which is so important for a homeschooling mom who has to bring in income. Time4Learning is such a blessing and the answer to my prayers when it comes to affordable curriculum.