But they weren’t prepared for people’s reaction.

The Peebleses discovered that homeschooling -- for any reason -- inflames critics. Even though the number of homeschooled kids in the Raleigh area has doubled over the past several years, other parents take the decision personally: If traditional schools are okay for our kids, why aren’t they okay for yours? Well-meaning people worried aloud that Blake wouldn’t ever learn social skills if he didn’t have to mix with his peers daily. Even their friends told them they were crazy.

Then, Blake hit the media. Twenty-four hours after one story appeared in the local daily newspaper, Blake Peebles was all over the Internet -- and he and his parents were getting flamed. He was a loser. His parents were double losers. Parenting forums opened discussion threads about them.

Hurt by the comments on gaming sites, Blake posted a heartfelt defense of himself and his parents, moving some of his critics to apologize. “A lot of people I don’t know will say this is a stupid idea,” Blake says now. “Most people don’t know how big pro gaming is, and I can’t explain because they already think it’s stupid.”

What Blake and his parents didn’t yet realize was that they were celebrities. For months, the phone didn’t stop ringing. Partly to combat the “dropout” perception, the family did more than 100 radio interviews all over the world. Ryan Seacrest called. All sorts of television shows courted them, including CBS’s The Early Show, Dr. Phil, Wife Swap, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Hollywood producers wanted to do a movie deal.