Record: Michael J. McVicar, Christian Reconstruction: R. J. Rushdoony and American Religious Conservatism (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015)
Summary: McVicar, who teaches in the Religion department at Florida State, here provides us with a book-length biography of one of the most important early U.S. homeschooling leaders. Rushdoony is not always put in the same tier of standout leaders as John Holt and Raymond and Dorothy Moore, but I argued in my 2008 history
I am currently spending all of my time on two major scholarly projects, and my capable workstudy student Robert Lyon, who has been composing these reviews over the past several months, is home for the summer. The reviews section of the ICHER website will thus not be able to be updated for the rest of the summer. We will return in the Fall with more reviews of recent research of home education/homeschooling scholarship!
Milton Gaither
Record: Andrew McAvoy, “How Are New Technologies Impacting Elective Home Learners?” in International Perspectives on Home Education (2015): 74-84. [Table of Contents]
Summary: This article is part of a series of reviews on the book International Perspectives on Home Education. McAvoy obtained his MSc in Science Education at Sheffield Hallam University in 2007 and has worked as a teacher in secondary schools for 18 years in both the UK and Turkey. Here he asserts that the impact of broadband technologies on homeschooling communities has already been significant and irreversible. Continue reading
Record: Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison, “The Informal Acquisition and Development of Literacy” in International Perspectives on Home Education (2015): 57-73. [Table of Contents]
Summary: This article is part of a series of reviews on the book International Perspectives on Home Education. Thomas is a visiting fellow and Pattison is a research associate at at the Institute of Education, University of London. Here they investigate the informal development of literacy in the context of home education. Continue reading
Record: Noraisha Yusof, “Parental and Children’s Views on Mathematical Learning within the Home Environment” in International Perspectives on Home Education (2015): 44-56. [Table of Contents]
Summary: This article is part of a series of reviews on the book International Perspectives on Home Education. Yusof was home educated in the UK for 16 years before receiving a PhD in mathematics from Warwick University. Here she presents the results of a semi-structured questionnaire about how the parents’ approach to home education affected their children’s views and understanding of math. Continue reading
Record: Christian P. Wilkens, Carol H. Wade, Gerhard Sonnert and Philip M. Sadler, “Are Homeschoolers Prepared for College Calculus?” in Journal of School Choice, 9, no. 1 (2015): 30-48. [Abstract]
Summary: Christian P. Wilkens and Carol H. Wade teach in the Department of Education and Human Development, College at Brockport. Gerhard Sonnert and Philip M. Sadler teach in the Science Education Department, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University. As the title implies, the authors investigate the preparation and success of homeschooled students in college calculus. Continue reading
Record: Brian Ray, “African American Homeschool Parents’ Motivations for Homeschooling and Their Black Children’s Academic Achievement” in Journal of School Choice, 9, no. 1 (2015): 71-96. [Abstract]
Summary: Brian D. Ray is the founder and current president of the National Home Education Research Institute. In this study he explores the academic achievement of Black homeschool students in grades 4 through 8 as well as their parents’ motivations for homeschooling. Continue reading
