Homeschooling Flexibility: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith

In the article referenced below, Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith explain why they have chosen to homeschool two of their three children and Will's nephew who is under their care (NOTE: their only child not being homeschooled is Will's son from his first marriage).

In addition to flexibility, Jada explains that her and Will "don't want [their] kids to memorize. [They] want them to learn."

In addition to mentioning this in the blog because I wanted to elaborate on yesterday's "Famous Homeschoolers" post, I also wanted to include this one because it mentions a reason for homeschooling I had not brought up before: flexibility.

Although my wife and I do not travel the world the way Will and Jada do, flexibility is important to us as well. For us flexibility means we can take family vacations when we want and are not tied to the public school system breaks. This means we can get better prices on travel and avoid over-crowding when we vacation.

Flexibility is also important for us because it allows us to better accommodate music lessons and the like. Teachers who are not available during the typical after-school windows because of commitments to existing students are often available during the day.

Flexibility benefits us as a family and our children because we can make time for the extra learning and extracurricular activities that we were never quite able to when they attended public school.

Famous Homeschoolers

So, what do the following people have in common?

Leonardo da Vinci
Irving Berlin
Frederick Terman (President of Stanford University)
John Witherspoon (President of Princeton University)
Claude Monet
George Patton
Douglas MacArthur
Alexander Graham Bell
Thomas Edison
the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright
Thomas Jefferson
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Woodrow Wilson
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Brigham Young
Joan of Arc
Pierre Curie
Albert Einstein
George Washington Carver
Booker T. Washington
Winston Churchil
Benjamin Franklin
Hans Christian Andersen
C.S. Lewis
Mark Twain
Charles Dickens
Agatha Christie
Will Rogers
Florence Nightingale
Charlie Chaplin
Ansel Adams

Answer: They were all homeschooled.

Thanks to the website referenced below for compiling the list. And, I have only selectively picked from the list, so check out the website. Inspiring, don't you think? Looks like we are in good company.

List of Famous Homeschoolers from www.christianhomeschoolers.com