For eight days in February, 1994, the home schoolers of this nation gave Congress a lesson on the power of grassroots politics it is not likely to forget. It began when an amendment was introduced to H.R. 6, an enormous education reappropriations bill, which would have required all teachers in America to be certified in each and every course they teach. (See article on “The Battle of H.R. 6.”) This provision would have encumbered public schools—especially small public high schools. It would have seriously interfered with America’s private schools. But for home schools, the provision was the political equivalent of a nuclear attack. America’s home schoolers astonished Congress with a political counterstrike that was quick, effective, massive, and decisive. There are three central reasons why the home schooling community was able to respond in this manner.

The homeschool niche is unique and has its own quirks. This youtube video shares ten tips for marketing your product or service to homeschool parents.

Would-be reformers of the current educational system, including corporate altruists nor philanthropic foundations, have shown much interest so far in homeschooling's increasing popularity. Instead, they've focused on the promotion of charter schools and school vouchers. In this article, Greg Beato details some of the efforts of big business to reform public schooling, taking a look at corporate sponsorships, grants, and scholarship programs. It examines the dichotomy between those who criticize the system as an Industrial Age artifact and simultaneously push for more standardization and regimentation. Homeschoolers have provided an alternative that offers positive results in academics and other accomplishments. The article continues by looking at the future of the relationship between business and homeschoolers, from increasing scholarship opportunities to partnerships between homeschooling groups and corporations.

Patrick Farenga looks at the history of homeschooling from before the founding of our country to present day. He includes discussion of the work of some important people in the homeschooling revolution.

Homeschooling was growing rapidly in the 1980s in the United States, after starting from a very small base.

Home in education has been around as long as Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had no teachers or school to send their children to, so they simply had to do it themselves. It has been the case during much of history that they were simply no schools to send children to, leaving parents with no alternative but to homeschool.

Homeschoolers are actually not the easiest marketing targets in general. You might think that we are such a specific subset of the population that we basically have a marketing bullseye on our foreheads, but the truth is that people homeschool their children for such a wide variety of reasons that figuring out where we are coming from can be a full-time job in itself. The one thing homeschoolers DO have in common is their belief that by homeschooling, they are providing a customized education for their child.

Cheryl Seelhoff continues her look at the history of homeschooling by examining the importance of the HSLDA's response to H.R. 6, a House of Representatives bill addressing issues in elementary and secondary education. The HSLDA warned that this bill might require certification of home educating parents, in contrast to the opinions of other members of the homeschooling movement.

The right to home school is based on two fundamental principles of liberty: religious freedom and parental rights. Whenever one of these two freedoms is threatened, our right to home school is in jeopardy. Here are the battles we think home educators will be facing as we enter the next century:

Explore some of the history of the homeschooling movement, why some parents choose to homeschool, the basics of homeschooling, and more. The article includes some homeschooling statistics and demographic information. Also included is a discussion of the influences of Dr. Raymond Moore and John Holt on the emerging homeschool movement.

If you’re looking for a perfect niche market for your specialty toys, you might try homeschoolers. Since they are outside of the mainstream, they tend to be more skeptical about mass-marketed products and more inclined to make unorthodox choices, as a scan of homeschooling websites and a survey of five homeschooling moms revealed.

A look at the change in the homeschooling movement from an inclusive philosophy to a more structured, compartmentalized, and politicized structure.

Cheryl Seelhoff discusses the controversy between her and other homeschool movement leaders.

This is the first part of a comprehensive series on the history of homeschooling in America.

In late 1979 three Maryland families interested in home education met in Columbia to give each other support. By Spring of 1980 the Maryland Home Education Association was formed and three families grew to include more than twenty. Thus was the start of the formal homeschooling movement in Maryland.

The years 1990-1992 marked an important turning point in the homeschooling movement. Cheryl Seelhoff looks at this important time. She explores educational philosophies as a source of division, the home-centered living movement, the issue of remarried homeschoolers, the expertization of homeschooling, and more.

This essay by Michael Farris outlines why it is so important to fight for homeschool rights.

A look at what homeschoolers buy and different ways to reach the homeschool market.

Maureen McCaffrey Williamson examines the homeschool market and shares several resources for contacting with the homeschool market, including mailing lists of homeschoolers, periodical available for advertising, and more.

This is the final installment of Cheryl Seelhoff's series on the history of homeschooling in America.