The Kitchen Table Classroom

Throughout history, scores of homeschooled individuals have gone on to achieve positions of fame and fortune: Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Sally Ride, to name just a few. Each of these personalities spent time learning to read and write at the kitchen table or studying nature while hiking in the backwoods. And each went on to fashion their own talents into careers that caught the attention of not just their peers, but the entire world.

Today, we watch as homeschooled youngsters win nationally televised spelling bees and homeschooled teens gain acceptance to major universities and colleges. More and more parents across the United States are exploring the option of homeschooling their children. Whether it be for religious reasons, to avoid the growing violence in public schools, or to be more intimately involved in their child's learning, families are successfully teaching their children at home—and the numbers are on the rise.