Parents and friends in our third article we championed using computers to homeschool African American children and prepare them for a future where computers will have an impact on every part of our society. In the final part 4 article we will complete the series by stressing the importance of making sure your computers and broadband Internet connection is secure from the daily attack of hackers, viruses and thieves.. oh my!

Lions, tigers and bears in digital form are being unleashed on the Internet daily, if not almost hourly. Now most parents would get the idea that if it’s that bad then why use the Internet at all. If you take a closer look at the educational environment today, there are lions, tigers and bears already out there in public and private schools waiting to take advantage of our African American children each and everyday. It’s almost become a challenge to just stay alive, let alone avoid drugs, teen pregnancy and other ills.

The difference between the two learning arenas is that while they are at home learning you have more control protecting them and more tools to defend against whatever comes their way. It’s far better to have a daily defense for your African American children’s learning, then to wonder what’s going on at their school.

Now, let’s get to looking at viruses (lions), hackers (tigers) and thieves (bears) to keep out of your computer and your home. Virus software is as important to your computer and the network it’s connected to as proper nutrition is to your children. Both help to defend against having a healthy computer/child becoming sick or worse.

Make sure your virus software is up-to-date and that your computer’s operating system is updated constantly. Run your virus software daily, yes daily and check for updates daily to make sure the software has the latest tools to protect your computer. Viruses, worms and other bad software code is being released near hourly at times, so running your virus software everyday and keeping it updated is a must. Teach your children about viruses and what to do to keep your computers safe and virus free.

We left our parents and friends in our last article discussing the commitment it takes to homeschool African American children. In part 2 of 4 we will discuss finding resources to make sure that African American parents commitment to their children’s education is not hampered because of anything easily available.

First we have to thank all our loyal readers and visitors, without your support the countless hours of being marathoned by the thought police to put this onto a page would not have been so worth it.

Finishing the subject line of commitment we need African American parents considering computer homeschooling to have very real and concrete reasons for homeschooling because it takes wisdom as testified by King Solomon in the Book of Proverbs to teach an African American child. Possible reasons, and due to time and space we will go over a few, could be a African American child who cannot not keep up academically. A child unable to deal in the social setting of the school, gifted children who are too advanced for the schools available, public or private school curriculum that is unsuitable and violence in schools are also reasons to make the commitment to homeschool.

Due to violence, drugs, teen pregnancy, predatory teachers and other distractions or social hurdles in public and private schools many parents have been taking their children home and homeschooling them. I am going to let you in on a little secret, both my African American parents were public school teachers in high school and middle school. I share that secret with you so that no one will believe that I am against public or private school education, I’m just for homeschool education. Some of our country’s greatest leaders were homeschooled, including several presidents. If your reason for homeschooling your children is as strong as your conviction then you could be teaching the next president of the United States, the next Booker T. Washington or even another Colin Powell.

Now, some of the resources you need to focus on: curriculum, books, events, and patience. Curriculum should be researched thoroughly as each African American child is different and should not be taught the cookie cutter way that out of home schools use. They also can be found on the Internet for the best price of free to the reasonable prices of from $10 to $75 using search engines, or other homeschooling sites. The books you need on each subject to be taught to your African American scholars don’t have to be new, just good educational material. These books also can be bought on the Internet, I am a great fan of shopping online due to the fact that it saves on gas and time to find what you are looking for each and every time. Events for homeschooling your African American children are equally important as it exposes your children to different people. cultures. ideas and helps in creating a well-rounded individual. Events can be found online thru several sources including newsgroups, search engines, and electronic newsletters. Now patience cannot be found online, at least not any that can make a homeschool an environment for learning. Learning at home should not be like learning outside the home, it should be fun and interesting. So use patience in teaching your children as they are having to relearn how to teach themselves.

The use of computers in homeschooling your children should be a great reality for you now and if not I have much more to share. I have run out of space and will continue sharing the rest of our knowledge odyssey in the 3rd and 4th articles. Some of the resources will be made available on our web site and you are welcome to forward questions to be answered in a timely manner. Thank you for your time and patience.