Back to the Diploma issue. Recently, in light of the discussion between Jordan and I about getting her into Cosmetology with a Homeschool Diploma, we have been more aware of everyday people who probably have a High School Diploma and how dumb they are. One is the person we both know who recently started Cosmetology. She has a Diploma... And then she happened to tell us about another student from the previous semester, who either has a Diploma, or was a vocational student attending High School. Apparently after the lesson on Hair Extensions this student went home to practice, but instead of using the hot glue intended for Hair Extensions she just heated Super Glue in the microwave and applied them with that. Needless to say this resulted in a large bald spot after removing the extensions, because Super Glue won't come out. I think even a small child who has experienced gluing their fingers together with Super Glue would be smart enough to know not to put it in their hair. How do these people even make it to High School? Well, I do know how they make it, actually. The same way all the other masses did.
I came across an updated list of famous/successful Homeschooled persons, so I thought I would list them now. The point behind the fact that they were 'homeschooled', is that they were allowed to learn what they wanted or needed to learn instead of being forced into the dumbed-down mould of an institutionalized setting. Society now recognizes them as notable for their accomplishments, intelligence or genius.
Famous People Who Homeschooled

Educators
Frank Vandiver (President - Texas A&M)
Fred Terman (President - Stanford)
William Samuel Johnson (President Columbia)
John Witherspoon (President of Princeton)

Generals
Stonewall Jackson
Robert E. Lee
Douglas MacArthur
George Patton

Inventors
Alexander Graham Bell
Thomas Edison
Cyrus McCormick
Orville Wright & Wilbur Wright

Artists
Claude Monet
Leonardo da Vinci
Jamie Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth
John Singleton Copley

Presidents
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
John Quincy Adams
James Madison
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Abraham Lincoln
Theordore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Scientists
George Washington Carver
Pierre Curie
Albert Einstein
Booker T. Washington
Blaise Pascal

Statesmen
Konrad Adenauer
Winston Churchill
Benjamin Franklin
Patrick Henry
William Penn
Henry Clay

United States Supreme Court Judges
John Jay
John Marshall
John Rutledge

Composers
Irving Berlin
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Anton Bruckner
Felix Mendelssohn
Francis Poulenc

Writers
Hans Christian Anderson
Charles Dickens
Brett Harte
Mark Twain
Sean O'Casey
Phillis Wheatley
Mercy Warren
Pearl S. Buck
Agatha Christie
C.S. Lewis
George Bernard Shaw

Religious leaders
Joan of Arc
Brigham Young
John & Charles Wesley
Jonathan Edwards
John Owen
William Cary
Dwight L. Moody
John Newton

Others
Charles Chaplin - Actor
George Rogers Clark - Explorer
Andrew Carnegie - Industrialist
Noel Coward - Playwright
John Burroughs - Naturalist
Bill Ridell - Newspaperman
Will Rogers - Humorist
Albert Schweitzer - Physician
Tamara McKinney - World Cup Skier
Jim Ryan - World Runner
Ansel Adams - Photographer
Charles Louis Montesquieu - philosopher
John Stuart Mill - Economist
John Paul Jones - father of the American Navy
Florence Nightingale - nurse
Clara Barton - started the Red Cross
Abigail Adams - wife of John Adams
Martha Washington - wife of George W.

Constitutional Convention Delegates
George Washington - 1st President of the U.S.
Madison - 4th President of the U.S.
John Witherspoon - President of Princeton U.
Benjamin Franklin - inventor and statesman
William S. Johnson - President of Columbia
C. George Clymer - U.S. Representative
Charles Pickney III - Governor of S. Carolina
John Francis Mercer - U.S. Representative
George Wythe - Justice of Virginia High Court
William Blount - U.S. Senator
Richard D. Spaight - Governor of N. Carolina
John Rutledge - Chief Justice U.S. Supr Court
William Livingston - Governor of New Jersey
Richard Basset - Governor of Delaware
William Houston - lawyer
William Few - U.S. Senator
George Mason