I give one of my friends and co-author Salli Rasberry credit for some important part of the current homeschooling movement. Salli and her husband wrote Rasberry Exercises which was the bible for hippy homeschooling.
Prior to the hippies homeschooling there was a tiny group of religious people who avoided public schools because they were too secular. And private schools because they were the wrong religions and the wrong social classes. The hippies chose homeschooling because they disliked the authoritarian and disciplined structure of conventional schooling.
Not only did homeschooling grow to be a large movement, now numbering nearly 2 million students out of a universe of 50 million students, but in most parts of the U.S. homeschooling is aided with resources and supplements by the public school system.
Moreover, I would argue that an important part of the charter school movement is related to the homeschooling movement. There are slightly more students in charter schools than are homeschooled, 3 million.
Combined homeschooled and charter school students are over 10% of American K-12 education. Another 10% of students are in private religious and nonreligious schools. A shrinking 4 out of 5 students are still in traditional public schools.
Thank you Salli for your contribution. Public schools today are a dangerous loci of Lefty anti-commerce hate and environmental armageddon religion. At least nonpublic school children have a sense that education can be different from the authoritarian teacher/classroom public model.