5 Black Celebrities Who Homeschooled Their Children

1. Will Smith & 2. Jada Pinket-Smith

Will Smith told  Essence Magazine back in 2009:

"We started homeschooling our children probably six years ago... We found about eight or nine other parents that homeschool, so we put the children together.... There are just very powerful educational concepts that we believe in, and we feel like we want to design the system that revolutionizes public education.”

3. Eryka Badu

Ms. Badu is probably one of the crunchiest black celebs out there, having a homebirth, breastfeeding into toddlerhood, vegan and now add homeschool parent to the list.  In a 2009 interview with Babble, she spoke about being a homeschool mom:

“I wanted to give Seven Sirius [who is entering sixth grade in the fall] special attention academically, to give him an advantage. So by being home-schooled he learned how to learn – he learned how to solve problems in a nontraditional way. In doing that he developed an edge in his schoolwork. He enjoys challenges. He pushes himself. He does his homework voluntarily. He does not want to miss school or be late or be untidy or not have his things in order because that was a big part of how he was brought up [Seven was home-schooled until he entered second grade]. I don’t have any idea what Seven is going to choose to do, but he knows how to be disciplined and how to learn, and because of that he’s one of the top students in his school, and one of the top students in Dallas.  I home-schooled him myself. And my daughter, Puma Sabti, she’s five – she’s home-schooled. And the new baby just started school this week, now that she’s six months.”

4. Micheal Jackson

I think it is no surprise, with all the efforts the King of Pop took to keep his children out of the eyes of the media, that he choose to have his children complete their education at home.  Initially Michael Jackson’s children were homeschooled with private tutors teaching them in their home.  They continued to be homeschooled for a while after their father's death, the family rehired the same tutors.  However soon they did transition to a private school environment.
5. Cynthia Bailey

On the Bravo TV Blog Bailey shares her testimony regarding homeschooling her daughter.

"I decided to homeschool Noelle, because she was having some issues in school, not academic but social. The environment for her became one that was spirit-breaking as opposed to spirit-lifting. I know my child very well, and she was not flourishing. It was hard to watch her try to find her own identity, and own who she is. No matter how much love and support she got at home, when she went to school she was torn down. I noticed that her behavior went from confident, strong, smart, and happy to low self-esteem, quiet, withdrawn, and sad. Her eating habits changed, grades dropped, and she started biting her nails uncontrollably. It was heartbreaking, and I felt so helpless....I took Noelle out of school. I was literally dropping her off one morning for school and was kissing her good-bye when I paused for a moment to look at her, and I did not like what I saw. That was it for me, I was done. I told her to get back in the car and took her home. I immediately felt a sense of relief, and guilt left my body. I knew I was doing the right thing. I never had any regrets, and I never looked back. Noelle was home schooled for the rest of the year.
Homeschooling was fine, but after a while of course Noelle began to miss being around other children. So I decided to put her in another school that was a better fit for her, and she is happy and doing well. So yes, Noelle is back in school, but I do not regret taking her out when I did. Finding the right school for your child is very individual. What works for one child may not work for another. A mother’s love and instinct is very powerful, there is nothing like it."

Are we missing anyone? What do you think of these celebrities' decisions to homeschool?



Originally published on Baby & Blog