Your Black Child at School
A 2-hour parent training with a certificate, taught by a Black adoptee who grew up in a white family.
What this course is
This is a self-paced parent training for any family raising a Black child in a white home. It takes about two hours, it works on a phone, and it ends with a certificate parents can give their licensing worker or agency.
Each of the six lessons starts with a true story from Michael's childhood as a Black boy raised by a white family in Lincoln, Nebraska. The lesson then turns that story into steps you can take at school, a real situation with a worked answer, review questions and a printable page with emails you can copy. Parents finish with a written plan for the school moments they're most likely to face.
What you'll be able to do
- Set up a working relationship with your child's teacher before the school year starts, including a clear request to hear about any race-related incident the same day.
- Respond when your child reports something at school, using calm, dated emails and specific requests in writing.
- Ask the right questions about discipline, labels and placement decisions, including advanced classes, gifted testing and special education referrals.
- Prepare your child and the school for lessons on slavery, civil rights and Black history, and keep a written record of every school contact.
How the certificate works
- Take a short opening quiz as a warm-up.
- Work through the six lessons, including the printable page in each one.
- Type your plan right into the course, one line at a time. Each line comes with an example to help you.
- Pass the final quiz with 8 out of 10. Retakes are unlimited.
- Answer a short evaluation, and your certificate for 2 training hours unlocks.
Please check with your licensing worker or agency about how many hours they accept for self-paced training.
For agencies
The course covers the same ground agencies already train on, including education, effective communication, trauma-related behavior and accessing services and supports. It's also a good fit for CASA volunteers who speak up for a child at school. Agencies can license it for all of their families. Email hello@beyondthemomentadoptionstudio.com to set that up.
About your instructor
Michael Gaither is a Black adoptee who grew up with a white family in Lincoln, Nebraska, and met his birth family for the first time at forty-nine. He spent 30 years in education as a teacher and a principal, and 13 of those years running his own executive leadership coaching business for school principals.
His book, I Was Your Black Child: What White Parents Raising Black Children Need to Hear Before It's Too Late, tells the story of growing up Black in a white household. Through Beyond the Moment Adoption Studio, he helps white parents raising Black children.
Course curriculum
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1Start Here
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2The Six Lessons
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3Finish and Get Your Certificate