Wow! Have you noticed how many homeschoolers there are these days? Have you heard people refer to this "new" craze of homeschooling? But is it new? Absolutely not! In fact, just the opposite. Homeschooling has been around for hundreds of years, far longer than the relatively new compulsory school laws. What? You don't believe me? It's true! The first compulsory attendance law was adopted in Massachusetts in 1852. During the next 15 years, no other state followed Massachusetts, but beginning in 1867, a steady stream of states began adopting compulsory attendance laws, and by 1918 all states had enacted them.
Why would the government enact a compulsory school law? Government control baby! Do you notice the dates? This huge turn toward compulsory schooling was immediately following the ending of the Civil War. Well, they certainly didn't want THAT to happen again, so they decided to transfer the responsibility of the education of the children from the family unit to the state. In other words, they wanted to make controllable "sheeple" out of the people by giving the children their version of history, agenda, etc. This still goes on today.
So now that you know that homeschooling is not a new phenomenon, let's look at some of the folks from the past and the present who have made it big. There are countless homeschoolers in history, and I have listed just a few. I have also tried to list some of the present-day homeschoolers that your children can relate to. You know, on one of "those" days, you could say, "Hey! Did you know that Miley Cyrus homeschooled?"
So now that you know that homeschooling is not a new phenomenon, let's look at some of the folks from the past and the present who have made it big. There are countless homeschoolers in history, and I have listed just a few. I have also tried to list some of the present-day homeschoolers that your children can relate to. You know, on one of "those" days, you could say, "Hey! Did you know that Miley Cyrus homeschooled?"
- Peter Jennings, News Anchor - During his lifetime, Peter Jennings amassed numerous journalism rewards. He received 14 Emmys and 2 Peabody Awards. He was also granted the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, and the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award in 2001. Shortly after his death, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City designated part of 66th street as Peter Jennings Way, in recognition of Jennings’ sterling contributions to journalism.
Artists
- Claude Monet
- Grandma Moses
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Rembrandt
- Peale
Athletes
- Michelle Kwan - American figure skater who won nine U.S. championships, five World Championships, and two Olympic medals. She competed at a high level for over a decade and is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history. Known for her consistency and expressive artistry on ice, she is widely considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.
- Kaitlyn Weaver - ice dancer
- Jason Taylor
- Tim Tebow
- Serena & Venus Williams - Venus and Serena Williams, known the world over for their remarkable tennis playing abilities, were home-schooled by their father from middle school on. As part of their education, they put on tennis clinics for underprivileged children and spoke in inner city schools.
- Agatha Christie
- Alex Haley
- ALEX AND BRETT HARRIS founded TheRebelution.com in August 2005 and today, at age 19, are among the most widely read teen writers on the Web. The twins are frequent contributors to Focus on the Family's webzine Boundless, serve as the main speakers for The Rebelution Tour conferences, and have been featured nationally on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and The New York Times, as well as in publications like WORLD magazine, Breakaway, and Ignite Your Faith. Their first book, Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, was released on April 15, 2008, by Multnomah Books. Sons of homeschool pioneers Gregg and Sono Harris and younger brothers of best-selling author Joshua Harris (I Kissed Dating Goodbye), Alex and Brett have a passion for God and for their generation. Their personal interests include politics, filmmaking, music, basketball, and soccer. And food. They like food. Alex and Brett are freshmen at Patirck Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia. When they're not at school or out doing conferences they live with their parents and three younger siblings near Portland, Oregon, where they attend Household of Faith Community Church.
- C.S. Lewis
- Charles Dickens
- Christopher Paolini - Christopher began writing the first volume of the Inheritance trilogy when he completed a home school high school curriculum at the age of 15. The trilogy consists of Eragon and Eldest, and Brisingr.
- George Bernard Shaw
- Hans Christian Anderson
- Louisa May Alcott
- Margaret Atwood
- Mark Twain
- Phillis Wheatley
- Pearl S. Buck
- Robert Frost practiced education by poetry with his children, since to him, the two were one and the same. Thus, poetry became part of the everyday life of the Frost family. His daughters Lesley, Irma, Marjorie and son Carol were home-schooled by their parents. Along with the basic instruction, they were encouraged to develop their powers of observation and cultivate their imaginations. Reading and writing were intended to be both pleasurable and a vehicle of discovery.
- Virginia Woolf
- Andrew Carnegie
- Colonel Harland Sanders
- Dave Thomas
- Joseph Pulitzer
- Ray Kroc
- Felix Mendelssohn
- Irving Berlin
- John Philip Sousa
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conservation
- Bindi Erwin - Bindi Sue Irwin was born on the 24th July 1998 in Queensland, Australia to her two proud parents Steve and Terri Irwin. From the very first day of her birth, Bindi has been involved with her Mum and Dad's filming and wildlife conservation work and handled everything from spiders and snakes to crocodiles and elephants. She has traveled extensively all over the world with her family and made numerous appearances in not only most of her parent's television programs but guest spots on many worldwide talk shows. Bindi is homeschooled and making excellent grades — a first class student who likes "creative writing" best and not too keen on math. She sponsors a World Vision unprivileged child in Asia and donates a lot of her time and pocket money to help Wildlife Warriors Worldwide (her dad's conservation charity) and assists at the Australian Wildlife Hospital.
Entertainers
- Aaron Carter - Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter
- Adam Paskowitz - lead singer, The FlysAlan Alda
- Alyson "Aly" Michalka and Amanda Joy "AJ" Michalka - sister singing duo and actresses
- Alexander Gould - actor, voice of Nemo in Finding Nemo
- Barlow Girl - Alyssa, Rebecca, and Lauren Contemporary Christian Music
- Brenda Song
- Charlie Chaplin
- Chris Brown - R&B singer, dancer, actor
- Chris Thile, the recording artist and mandolin genius, was homeschooled, as were Sarah and Sean Watkins.
- Christina Aguilera
- Cole & Dylan Sprouse
- Dakota Fanning
- Demi Lovato
- Devon Werkheiser - actor known for the role Ned Bigby on "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"
- Elijah Wood actor best known as Frodo in the The Lord of the RingsEmile Hirsch, Actor - Recently starred in Into the Wild, Speed Racer and Milk. Graduated from Beach High, a homeschool program.
- Erika Christensen - actress
- Evan Rachel Wood
- Frankie Muniz - child actor
- Hanson
- Harry Houdini, born Ehrich Weiss on April 6, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary, was the son of Dr. Mayer Samuel Weiss, a Jewish rabbi, and Cecilia Steiner Weiss. He legally changed his name in 1913. Houdini is said to be one of the most influential magicians of the 20th century. His specialty was any type of escape, including slipping out of ropes, chains, and handcuffs while locked in trunks and milk cans or submerged under water.
Houdini became world famous by barnstorming across America and around the globe. He died on October 31, 1926, at the age of 52, after his appendix ruptured and peritonitis set in.
Houdini had little formal education, but his self-education was a lifelong pursuit. "My mind," he is often quoted as saying, "is the key that sets me free." - Hayden Panettiere - actress best known for her role as Claire Bennet in Heroes and in "Remember the Titans"
- Hillary Duff
- Hume brothers - Jon, Peter, and Dann of the Evermore alternative rock band from New Zealand
- Jacob Clemente - Broadway Actor Jena Malone
- Jennifer Love Hewitt
- Jeremy Sumpter - actor
- Jonas Brothers - Kevin, Joe, and Nick Performers
- Jordin Sparks - singer, actress, model and American Idol winner
- Justin Timberlake
- Kristen Stewart
- LeAnne Rimes
- Lindsey Shaw - actress known for her role as Jennifer Mosely on "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"Louis Armstrong
- Maria von Trapp - one of the Von Trapp Family Singers, the third child of Captain von Trapp
- Miley Cyrus
- Moffatts - Canadian version of Hanson
- Nickel Creek Band - 3 Members
- Raven Symone - actress
- Rebecca St. James - contemporary Christian recording artist
- Ryan Gosling - Most notable for his role as Noah on "The Notebook". His mother started homeschooling him because he got into too many fights in school.
- Selena Gomez
- Sofia Vassilieva - actress
- Spencer Breslin and Abigail Breslin, Actors - Spencer starred in Disney's "The Kid," "The Cat in the Hat," "Raising Helen," and "The Santa Claus Part 2." Abigail starred in "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl."
- Taylor Swift
- Tyler Hoechlin, Actor - In many ways, the real star of Road to Perdition is California homeschooler Tyler Hoechlin, who plays 12 year-old Michael Jr. Hoechlin, in his first major role, gives a convincing portrayal of a young man who both idolizes and fears his father.
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Yehudi Menuhin - child prodigy violinist
- Davy Crockett
- George Rogers Clark
Inventors
- Benjamin Franklin
- Cyrus McCormick
- Eli Whitney
- Thomas Edison - The world’s greatest inventor, Thomas Edison, was home schooled by his mother, Nancy Elliot Edison. After performing poorly in the traditional one-room schoolhouse of yesteryear, his mother refused to believe the teacher’s assessment that young Tom’s “brains were addled” (mentally slow). Clearly Tom was experiencing the world quite differently from his classmates, and mother Nancy knew her son had quite a bit of capability from the things he was doing and experimenting with around the house. Through a great deal of nurturing and leadership, she gave him the basic tools to learn, both in the form of process and content; and empowered him to learn.
Nancy Edison encouraged her son to have both a head and hands approach to learning, allowing him to have his own laboratory in their small basement-a place where his father became quite concerned as various small explosions emanated, along with strange smells. Nancy endured over dad’s protests and imbued Tom with four life-long pillars of learning:- Do not be afraid to fail, keep trying, learn from your mistakes
- Read across the entire span of literature, not just what you like
- It is OK to work with your hands and learn from life, not all important things come from books
- Never stop learning, keep improving yourself.
In later years, a grown and very successful Thomas acknowledged that his mother’s discipline for a focused life was responsible for his great success. Today we hear a great deal of classroom interest in involving children in a head and hands learning environment. Renovated and new museums almost always involve head and hands exhibits or hands-on themes for learning.Tom obviously learned differently from the standard rote learning and recitation of the day. It was fundamentally necessary for Edison to have a visceral feel for the information he was learning, especially for a need to experiment and react to the results of those experiments. Throughout his life Edison developed a love for literature and could quote many great poems and passages.His life-long learning style motivated his strenuous recording of experiments, thoughts, and observations in thousands of detailed laboratory notebooks, which scholars are still mining today, 79 years after his death. So intense was his love of information, communications, and learning that he placed his own corporate office in his beautiful and well-stocked library. To him, a corporation was a continuous learning environment. In our Information Revolution today, symbolized by the ubiquitous Internet, Edison would be one very happy fellow! - Orville & Wilbur Wright
- Douglas MacArthur
- George Patton
- John Paul Jones
- Robert E. Lee
- Stonewall Jackson
- Matthew Perry
- Ansel Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park.
Presidents
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- George Washington
- Grover Cleveland
- James Garfield
- James Madison
- John Adams
- John Quincy Adams
- John Tyler
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Thomas Jefferson
- William Henry Harrison
- Woodrow Wilson
- Brigham Young
- Dwight L. Moody
- Joan of Arc
- John & Charles Wesley
- William Carey
- Albert Einstein
- Luther Burbank, the renowned horticulturist (plant breeder) was born in 1849. His experiments in agriculture that resulted in over 800 new plant varieties, changed farming in California and across the world. Visit the Luther Burbank Virtual Museum to learn more. Get a plant field guide and identify some of the common plants that grow in your area as you spot them in your car travels.
- Blaise Pascal
- Booker T. Washington
- George Washington Carver
- Pierre Curie
- Alexander Hamilton
- Daniel Webster
- Patrick Henry
- William Jennings Bryan
- William Penn
- Winston Churchill
- John Jay
- John Marshall
- John Rutledge
- Sandra Day O’Connor
- Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams
- Clara Barton, started the red cross
- Florence Nightingale, nurse
- Martha Washington, wife of George Washington
- Susan B. Anthony, women’s rights leader
Famous Homeschooling Parents
- Lisa Whelchel
- Kelley Preston and John Travolta
- Will and Jada Pinkett Smith
- Chuck Norris
- Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie
- Tom Cruise
- Darrell Waltrip - NASCAR RacerNASA
- Astronaut Homeschools - Just a brief mention in the biography of astronaut Duane G. "Digger" Carey that he and his wife homeschool their two children.
- Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales, Wikipedia Founder - He and his wife, Christine, home-school their six-year-old daughter, Kira, who is already doing third grade maths and reading at 12-year-old level.
