But the home-schooling movement is bigger than a few big names. More significantly, the movement is no longer viewed as an offbeat niche composed of loners, deeply religious families, or families who want to avoid what they consider poorly run public schools. And though home-schooling isn't yet considered mainstream and certainly still has plenty of detractors, it is gaining more acceptance. Kathleen Smith of Athol, Mass. who taught her two sons at home for five years, said public reaction to her children's education has changed dramatically in that time.
People are more accepting.
Now I find that more people are jealous. It appears that it's been growing at a rate of about 15 percent a year. And that growth hasn't slowed down, as far as we can see. Home-schoolers are grouped with the state's 130,000 private school students, she said. But according to the Massachusetts Home Learning Association, based in Marston Mills, the number of home-schoolers in the state is on the rise.