Tell me again about Harriet Tubman...

Yesterday I read poetry to Drew from a book I picked up for $1.75 at Half Price Books called Pass It on: African-American Poetry for Children.

Drew's favorite poem was Harriet Tubman by Eloise Greenfield. (She is also the author of a wonderful poem called "Honey, I Love" which was turned into the picture book that is MY favorite.)

Anyway, after I read the poem, we talked about slavery, the underground railroad and the courage and faith of the runaway slaves. Drew asked me if it was like the Israelites in the Bible (I'm thinking, "Yes! He remembered!") and we talked about how Harriet Tubman is likened to Moses. He wondered why she would risk her life to go back and free others and we talked about how there are some things worth dying for. He then asked about Martin Luther King, Jr. (who my daughter refers to as Doctor Luther King) and we talked about what he died for and how he lived for Christ.

And this is why I LOVE homeschooling. My son isn't learning about slavery in a classroom full of 30 children where he is one of the only 2 or 3 blacks in the class. He is learning from me and hearing my take on things, and even better he has a desire to learn and not just fill in the blanks or memorize names for the test only to forget them 30 minutes later.

It blessed me to no end when Drew said, "Mom, tell me again about Harriet Tubman." This is one of my many reasons to home school. I will post more of them later.