Audio and Videos of Grown Homeschoolers Talking About Their Experiences

Grown Homeschoolers Panels, 1997 (video).

Susannah Sheffer, editor of Growing Without Schooling magazine, moderates a panel of three grown homeschoolers (Tad Heuer, Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, and Mae Shell) at the 20th Anniversary conference for GWS in 1997 (in six parts). These young adults respond to questions about what it was like to be a homeschooler growing up, how they were socialized and interacted with their peers, how they decided to attend college or not, how they gained admission to college or found work, what they are doing now as adults, and they bring up even more interesting topics during their answers.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Grown Homeschoolers Panel 2005 (audio only).

Panelists include homeschoolers who were in college, who just graduated, and who never attended. This panel was moderated by Sara-Beth Matilsky, a grown homeschooler who did not go to college and "did other things that homeschooling made possible." This was recorded at the Learning In Our Own Conference in Woburn, MA.

Profiles of Grown Unschoolers

A collection of interviews with adults who were unschooled by blogger/unschooler Idzie Desmarais from 2010.

April 9, 2014, Idzie Desmarais interviews grown unschooler C. Kennedy.

Peter Kowalke's website, The Unschooler Experiment, has a page of podcasts and some are interviews with grown homeschoolers. Peter is also the director of Grown Without Schooling, a documentary film that interviews grown homeschoolers.

Books and Research Studies about Grown Homeschoolers

Linda Dobson. Homeschooler’s Success Stories: 15 Adults and 12 Young People Share the Impact That Homeschooling Has Made on Their Lives. Prima, 2000.

Grace Llewelyn. Real Lives: Eleven Teenagers Who Don’t Go To School Tell Their Own Stories. Lowry House, 1993.

Studies of adults who were homeschooled have been done by J. Gary Knowles, Brian Ray, and Julie Webb in her article, The Outcomes of Home-Based Education: Employment and Other Issues, Educational Review, 41 (2).

Famous Homeschoolers

Huffington Post lists 18 successful adults who were homeschooled.

Legendary Learning by Jamie McMillin presents historical and biographical information about famous homeschoolers.

Self-Directed Learning Outcomes

The 8-Year Study by Wilford Aiken. A high-quality, long-term study of the effects that attending an alternative high school had upon college success. Shows there are many paths for college success.

Free to Learn, Peter Gray Dr. Gray presents much evidence and research to support self-directed learning for all ages, including stories of adults who were allowed to be self-directed learners.