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

by Paula Penn-Nabrit

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 So in 1991—when Evan was nine and twins Charles and Damon were eleven—the children were withdrawn from the exclusive country day school they’d been attending.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 three spiritually and intellectually well balanced sons who attended some of the top educational institutions in this country.

What we learned from home

-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

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the surface this is a quick read book with a narrow view point. However it has important suggestions for good parenting whether or not you choose to homeschool.

[Damilola · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't normally make my rating so low but this book was bad and it was not what I was expecting at all. I thought this book was going to be about the daily grind of homeschooling three boys with anecdotes and stories, peppered with advice.

That was not this book. It is written by Paula Penn-Nabrit who is an African American mother who alongside her husband C. Madison homeschool their three sons, along with the help of tutors and mentors to Princeton (two of the sons) and Amherst College (one son) after they had a less than pleasant experience with a predominately white prep school. The title is a misleading in that sense. Her son Evan went to Amherst which to my knowledge is not an Ivy League.

Penn-Nabrit's tone is very for a lack of better words, very pretentious. Almost every chapter she talks about how her and her husband went to wonderful colleges and you get the impression that she thinks too highly of that. You can tell that the Nabrit's highly valued education but it was in a pretentious way that you felt that they defined people's value on the college they attended.

Their take on family life is not my cup of tea in particular and she speaks way over readers heads at time. There is also a lot more life/faith philosophy things than there are homeschool resource things.
The author was honest when she said that all her sons hated homeschool until the day they finished. A weird thing to add but hey honest! In the end, one son graduated Princeton, the other did not and ended up working at the family business. The son who went to Amherst graduated as well. I'm not sure what they are doing with their lives now which is why I personally feel defining a person based on where they went to college is so silly.

This was so hard to finish and I had so much hope for it. I even recommended it to someone because reviews looked decent and its hard to find resources on black people who homeschool. As someone who is trying to make sense of homeschool and family life this book really fell short of my expectations. That being said, it might fall short for everyone's expectations. Happy reading!

[Cindi Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met the author at a Homeschooling Conference and I enjoyed her talk and I was interested in her books. I bought her book "The Power of A Virtuous Woman" and then borrowed "Morning by Morning" from thd library. I read through "Morning by Morning" very quickly, making notes a along the way. I appreciated her vulnerability in this book. She's a mom who tries her best and has SO many great suggestions. I ended up borrowing the book again and reading it a second time. I wrote so many notes that I decided it was worth the investment to just buy the book. One especially helpful aspect of the book is her children are now grown. There is fruit learning from another mom who is in the trenches with you, but Paula offers so much wisdom having lived and survived the homeschool experience! Highly recommend. Oh and it is relevant for all races! Not just black families 😉

[Kim Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent philosophy for educating the minds of young men, with plenty of practical ideas. Her ideas are next-level!

[Angie Libert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall the book was disappointing. With a title of "Morning by Morning", I was expecting this book to be more about their day to day habits that helped them to succeed as a homeschooling family. It was not.

The insights into the challenges of being a black family was interesting. I find it shocking that people still experience various forms of racism.

Fortunately, I was able to pull out a couple useful tips to apply to our homeschool. Her ideas about tutors and studying current events were valuable. It was also confirming to read another author talking about taking the SAT early and often.

[Kim Matheson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a *wonderful* resource at this (admittedly early) stage in my homeschool research. Above all else, I valued Paula's deliberation at every step of the way. This is a woman who began with specific goals in mind, and very deliberately tailored her sons' homeschool experience to fit those goals.

It was also refreshing to hear someone express that not all homeschool mothers are "all sweetness and light." This book presents homeschooling much more realistically than other books I've encountered on the subject.

[Nichelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one family's struggle to obtain an above average education for their three highly intelligent African American sons in America. I was impressed and encouraged by their desparate struggle. I also enjoyed a few laughs as well.

[Larisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paula writes like she is sitting down next to you over a cup of tea and sharing the things she did right and the things she could have done differently in her home school journey from elementary school years - college. This is a great book to refer back to again and again!

[SunnyD · Rating 4 out of 5]

re-reading/skimming. good stuff in here.

[Meredith Henning · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know, this one was just okay. Sadly it didn't pan out like I wished it had, but overall interesting reading about their journey and experience with their sons. Just didn't grab me.

[Shurronne · Rating 4 out of 5]

No hands barred truth of what it takes to lovingly, and with deliberate but delicate,surgical hands, educate one's children.