I always knew I’d be a mom someday. I was one of those little girls who absolutely adored children. I still do. I loved taking care of my younger cousins and because I’m an only child, I always wanted a large family.

What I couldn’t have guessed is that I’d be a homeschooling mother. I always assumed my children would attend school as I did.

I had my first daughter when my husband and I were still in college. I’d take her to some classes with me and she always attended different rehearsals for Opera Workshop, drama clubs and any thing else I was apart of.

I took every opportunity to introduce her to new things in the world around her. I truly enjoyed being with my daughter each day. I loved being there for moments when she discovered something new or was able to verbalize something that I’d went over with her months earlier when she wasn’t even speaking. I didn’t want to miss a single moment.

I didn’t know about homeschooling at all then, but looking back, that’s exactly what I was doing. In fact we were unschooling. All the learning we did together was completely child-led. It was all centered around my daughters interests and it was a lot of fun.

By the time I put my daughter in day-care, I chose a teaching day care so that she could continue learning when we were apart. That’s when we began to have issues. It ended up that because my daughter was fully potty trained and she knew all the material being taught to children her age, she ended up in the class with 4 years old and she was still only 2. This caused many problems as my once self proclaimed “big girl” quickly became a baby again. I wanted her to be able to learn at her own pace but still be a toddler, however, the environment she was in just wasn’t able to provide her that opportunity.

Thankfully, around that time, I met a woman who homeschooled her son. After learning that this was an option that was available to me, I read every book I could find on the subject and, looked up state laws. By the time my daughter turned 4, we left the school system and never looked back. My two younger children have never been to school.

I never imagined I’d live as I do today but I can’t imagine living any other way. I really enjoy being with my children. I only have them for a short time and I want to make every moment count.

It all begins with food, believe or not. Many of the ailments that we suffer today is because of poor nutrition in the family. The best way to help your family, especially your children is to be cognizant of the importance of nutrition. Get started on the natural way from the beginning.

Ill health is not a way to be, and certainly not the optimal way to raise a child. Almost eighty years ago, a dentist named Dr. Weston price traveled to various “primitive” groups around the world looking for the secret to radiant health and near perfect teeth. The most consistent thing that he found was that as long as the people were eating their native diet they were healthy and did not have any severe dental issues. However, once they switched to a modern diet of refined sugars and flour, it didn’t take long for their teeth and health to suffer.

The point is, we as mothers need to educate ourselves on what healthy eating really means and start putting what we learn into practice – for our health and the health of our families.

Good nutrition supports good health

Consider breastfeeding your child, no matter how short the time you may have him/her. Breast milk is not only the best food for newborns but it’s free of any contaminates. Your breast milk doesn’t need to be recalled because of excess levels of pesticides or salmonella! (This is contingent upon the fact that the mother is not on any medication, alcohol or drugs)

Stay away from refined sugars and flours. Select whole grain foods for your family such as steel cut oatmeal (not those nasty, sugary Quaker Oats packets) or at the very least the oatmeal that cooks in 5 minutes. Bread that is high in dietary fiber is also a good choice.

Stay tuned to natural black mom to find out more ways of raising a healthy natural child.