Home schooling veterans Gilbert and Gloria Wilkerson, of Richmond, Virginia, also started home schooling about 12 years ago. Gloria felt the Lord had given her a vision to home school, but Gilbert wasn't so sure initially. "I was a little against it when we first started," he said, "because our society was against it and I didn't know much about it."

But after the Wilkersons attended a Home Education Association of Virginia conference, Gilbert was sold. "It was seeing the parents, children—whole families together. They answered the question of socialization—children do not go to school to socialize, but they go to school to learn. Over the years, we've seen the spiritual benefits, too. I'm more convinced now of the value of home schooling than I've ever been."

"We are a very close knit family," Gilbert explained. "We have nurtured and brought our children up in the admonition of the Lord. It has given our children a sense of destiny and courage.

"Our reward is greater than what we could have worked on Wall Street for. Our children have grown up to be great kids, levelheaded, spiritually sound, and having the peace of God in their lives.

"We just had a commitment to raise our kids in the Lord. And God has honored that over the years. We can't write any books, saying this is how we did it, A,B,C. We don't have a formula. It's just been God's grace, as we sacrifice to raise our kids unto the Lord."

In 1998, the Wilkersons launched the Network of Black Homeschoolers, a national organization to help African-American pioneers connect and find resources.