2,000,000 kids now home schooled in U.S.

I was reading an article recently that was saying how there are now 2 million home school students and home independent study students in the U.S. This is quite a switch from around 15,000 home schoolers about 40 years ago. People wouldn't have grown this phenomenon if it didn't work for kids throughout their lives. The fact that it is growing and growing is  testament to it's effectiveness.

I think for it really to work well however there needed to be enough college educated folks as a percentage of the population and the Viet Nam War created that happening. All the boys that didn't want to be drafted watched their friends come home dead in boxes and decided a student deferment was the way to go to stay alive. Then all the girls who saw all these boys go off to college followed them and got their Bachelor's degrees and even PHd's too. So, starting about 1965 this is what happened to the U.S. Once most young people had had 1 or 2 years of college at least whether or not they had degrees there was enough free thinking and critical thinking present to pull off home schooling or independent study of their kids in college and after. So, now 40 years later there are now 2 million home schooled kids in the U.S.

When my wife and I home schooled our 3 kids from 1980 to 1985 it was harder than now to home school children without having problems with local school boards. So, we used:

 

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   So, within 4 to 5 years we had independent study courses for every grade from 1st through 6th Grade when our oldest turned 12 and wanted to return to public school. So we moved to the SF Bay area and bought a business and put them in very good suburban public schools which was the oldest's wish there at the ocean. Now the oldest turned 42 today and is a Fire Captain, his younger sister is a lawyer, and the youngest son is now an English teacher. So, home schooling was very effective for them in becoming very creative self starters and resulted in a life long love of learning throughout their college years.