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Compiled by Teri Ann Berg Olsen, author of Homeschooling is a modern term but it is a form of education that has been around for centuries. In fact, until the mid-19th century, most children in America were educated at home. This was before the push for development of public schools began in the 1830s-1840s. If you look at references to education prior to the existence of a public school system, you will see phrases such as “tutored at home,” “self-taught,” or “no formal education,” referring to individuals we might now call home- schooled. For the purposes of my list, a person can be considered as being homeschooled if they fall into any one of the following categories: 1.) their mother, father, or another family member teaches them at home; 2.) a private tutor or a governess is hired to instruct them in the home; 3.) they are self- educated or unschooled and learn on their own; 4.) they are in a traveling show-business or missionary family and use homeschool curriculum while on the road or living abroad; 5.) they are students pursuing acting or sports careers and are enrolled in a distance learning program. Throughout the years, many famous people were self-educated, privately tutored, or schooled at home. These include: Constitutional Convention Delegates, Presidents, Statesmen, Military Leaders, Supreme Court Judges, Religious Leaders, Explorers, Scientists, Inventors, Artists, Composers, Writers, Educators, Medical Practitioners, Business Entrepreneurs, Performers, Athletes, and Others. In some cases it can be confusing when looking up a person’s biography which may say the names of school(s) that he or she attended. While they can be on record as having attended one or more particular schools, often the bio doesn’t explain that there were other years when they were homeschooled. I usually try to find the person’s autobiography and get the facts right from the source. Wikipedia is also a good general reference, although it is not really a scholarly resource. On the following pages you will find a “Who’s Who” of homeschoolers from past to present, as well as a list of notable contemporary homeschool parents. Refer to this resource whenever you have to deal with critics who attempt to tell you all of the reasons why homeschooling won’t work, or that your child will be a social misfit, or that you are not qualified to teach your own children. It is certainly an encouragement to homeschooling parents and children to see how many homeschoolers have become highly successful members of our society. The list of famous homeschoolers also shows that homeschooling is a valid option for many people from all walks of life. My goal is to be as thorough and as accurate as possible. I would like to clarify that not everyone on the following list was homeschooled exclusively, but homeschooling was definitely a significant factor in their education at one time or another. This resource is a work in progress and I will be adding links to more bios on a regular basis. Meanwhile, I hope that you will find my lists of Famous Homeschoolers and Famous Homeschool Parents to provide an interesting bit of trivia that can be useful as a starting point for further research.
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