The Origins of Homeschooling:
From Legal Battles to a National Movement
A prelude: parental rights before “homeschooling” had a name
TL;DR: Homeschooling in America began with legal battles over parental rights, gained momentum in the 1970s through reformers like John Holt and the Moores, and faced prosecutions in the 1980s until groups like HSLDA secured legal recognition in all 50 states by 1993. Since then, it has moved from the margins to the mainstream, accelerated by the pandemic, and is now entering a new era shaped by Education Savings Accounts. This history explains why homeschool families prize trust, word-of-mouth, and values-aligned products above all else.
Homeschooling didn’t emerge from catalogs or conferences. It grew out of kitchen tables, courthouse steps, and decades of determined parents who were willing to face fines, jail time, or worse for the freedom to educate their children at home. Understanding those roots matters, because today’s homeschool market still carries the DNA of those struggles: a fierce loyalty to trusted brands, a reliance on networks over advertising, and a strong filter of worldview and philosophy when making decisions.
This is the backstory—the foundation every marketer should understand before stepping into the homeschool world.
Parental Rights Before Homeschool Had a Name
Long before the modern movement, American courts affirmed that parents—not the state—hold primary responsibility for their children’s education. In 1925, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Oregon’s compulsory public-school law in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, declaring that “the child is not the mere creature of the State.” Nearly fifty years later, in Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), Amish parents won the right to withdraw their children from high school on religious grounds.
These cases weren’t about homeschooling as we know it, but they established the legal backbone for parental choice—something homeschoolers would lean on heavily in the decades to come.
Reformers and Pioneers (1960s–1980s)
By the late 1960s, frustration with conventional schools collided with new educational philosophies. Two voices, in particular, shaped the early imagination:
John Holt, a teacher-turned-reformer, who argued that schools often stifled children’s natural curiosity. His book Teach Your Own (1981) introduced the concept of “unschooling,” encouraging parents to trust the innate drive of children to learn.
Raymond and Dorothy Moore, education researchers who championed a later-start, developmentally sensitive approach in books like Better Late Than Early (1975).
These pioneers didn’t create laws; they created confidence. They told parents, “You really can teach your children at home,” and thousands of families took the leap.
The Legal Battles of the 1980s and 1990s
Ideas may have inspired families, but the fight for legality was won through sweat, sacrifice, and very personal costs.
In Tennessee, where I grew up, homeschooling was one of the hardest battles in the country. Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, my father and a handful of other pioneers—men who owned some of the first curriculum and resource companies—spent years working the halls of the statehouse. They personally paid attorneys and lobbyists, refusing to back down even as truancy prosecutions mounted.
I’ll never forget the story that defined those years for our family: my father suffered a heart attack in the governor’s office while pressing the case for homeschool freedom. The governor, visibly moved, signed the homeschool bill the very next day, remarking that if the issue was important enough to nearly cost a man his life, it was important enough to settle in law.
That was the level of commitment it took. In state after state, families—not outside organizations—bore the brunt of the risk, the expense, and the personal cost. Their persistence is what ultimately made homeschooling legal in Tennessee and, by 1993, explicitly legal in all fifty states.
From Legal Recognition to Mainstream Growth (Mid-1990s–2010s)
By the mid-1990s, most of the major legal battles were behind us. Homeschooling was now explicitly legal in every state, and what had once been a risky choice became a recognized—though still unconventional—option.
In this new season, the story shifted from survival to sustainability. Families who had fought for the right to homeschool began building the structures that would support long-term growth: curriculum companies, local co-ops, state organizations, and national conferences.
Most families were still single-income households stretching every dollar, but they pooled resources and created networks that became the backbone of the homeschool community. By the early 2000s, surveys estimated around two million students were being educated at home. The first digital forums, email groups, and online curriculum sellers appeared, broadening both access and connection.
The brands and organizations that had proven themselves trustworthy during the legal battles earned loyalty that often spanned decades, setting a pattern of trust-based relationships that still defines the homeschool market today.
A Shock and a Shift in Awareness (2020–2022)
The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t invent homeschooling, but it gave nearly every family in America a taste of it. For a season, parents everywhere were suddenly supervising lessons at the kitchen table, navigating online portals, and managing children at home during school hours.
For many, it was too much. Families discovered that the biggest challenge wasn’t math or reading—it was the daily reality of being with kids at home all day. As schools reopened, large numbers returned to the classroom.
But something important had changed. Homeschooling was no longer an obscure or fringe idea. It became a household word. The cashier at the grocery store at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday no longer asked why your kids weren’t in school. Respect grew considerably, and the old assumption that homeschooling was “only for the religious” fell away.
New families entered the movement—from off-the-grid households to digital nomads to parents building travel-based lifestyles. Homeschooling became less about a single motivation and more about flexibility, independence, and choice.
And with millions experiencing it firsthand, the market caught the attention of businesses outside the traditional homeschool world. Electives, enrichment programs, even mainstream curriculum providers began positioning themselves for this “new homeschooling,” and big business entered a space that had long been grassroots-driven.
The Policy Frontier: Education Savings Accounts (2011–Present)
A major shift in homeschooling over the past decade has come through the rise of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Arizona pioneered the first ESA program in 2011, and by 2022 it became the first state to make ESAs universally available. Other states, including Florida, West Virginia, Arkansas, Iowa, and Utah, have since followed with their own versions.
For homeschool families, ESAs represent something entirely new: access to public funds that can be used for approved curriculum, technology, and enrichment resources. This development has expanded homeschooling beyond the traditional single-income households that once dominated the movement. Families who might never have considered homeschooling before—because of finances, work balance, or access to resources—are now finding it possible.
The result is a more diverse homeschool community. From faith-based families to digital nomads, from parents piecing together online electives to those crafting full home-based curriculums, ESAs have broadened participation and increased demand for quality educational products. For companies, this means that the homeschool market is larger, more varied, and more opportunity-rich than ever before—but it also comes with the responsibility of navigating state compliance and accountability.
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