Playful Environments and Science Education

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Record: Jennifer Bachman and Lynn Dierking, “Co-creating Playful Environments That Support Children’s Science and Mathematics Learning as Cultural Activity: Insights From Home-Educating Families” in Children, Youth and Environments 21(2011): 294-311. [Abstract here]

Summary: Dr. Jennifer Bachman is the Director of Programming and Operations Oregon State University. Dr. Lynn Dierking is a professor also at Oregon State. Her primary research interests are lifelong learning, particularly free choice, and out-of-school learning with an emphasis on youth, families, and community.  This is an article that was published almost a decade ago, but until recently it escaped my notice.  So I’m reviewing it now. Continue reading →

Posted in Curriculum, Pedagogy | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Playful Environments and Science Education

Homeschooling and Special Education Services

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Record: Janet F. Carlson, “Context and Regulation of Homeschooling: Issues, Evidence, and Assessment Practices” in School Psychology 35(2020): 10-19. [Abstract here]

Summary: Dr. Janet Carlson is a research professor and associate director of the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska. She is a licensed psychologist, teaches a variety of psychology classes, and researches assessment related policies and concepts.  In this article she seeks to provide a general overview of homeschooling law for school psychologists so that they can be better equipped to understand serve homeschooled children with special needs.  Her method is to find the best and most relevant homeschooling scholarship and summarize it for her audience. Continue reading →

Posted in Policy/Regulation, Public Schools, Special Needs | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Homeschooling and Special Education Services

Socialization in Israel

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Record: Shiri Pearlman-Avnion and Mor Grayevsky, “Homeschooling, Civics, and Socialization: The Case of Israel” in Education and Urban Society 51(2017): 970-988. [Abstract here]

Summary: Dr. Shiri Pearlman-Avnion is a lecturer at Tel-Hai Academic College in Tel-Hai Israel. She is primarily interested in educational psychology, Autism Spectrum DIsorder, meta-cognition, and theory of mind.  I was unable to find any information about her co-author Mor Grayevsky.  Here the pair look for differences between homeschooled and schooled young people in civic engagement and social self-efficacy.   Continue reading →

Posted in Civics, International, Socialization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Socialization in Israel

Social Lives of Teen Homeschoolers in the UK

Posted on March 4, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Record: Eloise de Carvalho and Yvonne Skipper, “‘We’re Not Just Sat at Home in Our Pyjamas!’: A Thematic Analysis of the Social Lives of Home Educated Adolescents in the UK” in European Journal of Psychology of Education 34(2019): 501-516. [Abstract here]

Summary:  A former lecturer at Keele University of London and now a senior lecturer of psychology at the University of Glasgow,  Dr. Yvonne Skipper primarily researches social influences on learning. Eloise de Carvalho is pursuing her masters degree in educational psychology at the University of Bristol.  Here the authors present the results of a qualitative study of three UK adolescent home educated girls and their mothers, looking especially at the socializaiton experiences of these older children. Continue reading →

Posted in International, Socialization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Social Lives of Teen Homeschoolers in the UK

Comparing Reading Between Home and Conventionally Schooled Children

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Record: Oz Guterman and Ari Neuman, “Reading at Home: Comparison of Reading Ability Among Homeschooled and Traditionally Schooled Children” in Reading Psychology 40(2019): 169-190.  [Abstract Here].

Summary: Oz Guterman is the senior lecturer of the Department of Human Resources at Western Galilee College where Ari Neuman is also the senior lecturer of education. This is the latest of many articles the pair have been publishing over the last few years.  This new one the first to draw on a new set of data they have collected that allows for comparisons between home and conventionally schooled children in Israel. Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Achievement, International | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Comparing Reading Between Home and Conventionally Schooled Children

Homeschooling in Wisconsin

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Record: Denton Marks & David M. Welsch,  “Homeschooling Choice and Timing:
An Examination of Socioeconomic and Policy Influences in Wisconsin.” Journal of School Choice, 13, no. 1 (2019): 33-57 [Abstract Here]

Summary: Marks and Welsch were both economics professors at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at the time this article was published.  Marks seems no longer to be in the system.  Marks’ publications range widely, but he seems to have a special interest in economic issues related to wine.  Welsch has published several articles on educational issues, especially concerning Wisconsin.  Here they collaborate to provide a rare quantitative gem that mines Wisconsin’s excellent homeschooler registration data to make some interesting generalizations. Continue reading →

Posted in Parental Motivation, Public Schools, Religion, Research Methodology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Homeschooling in Wisconsin

Homeschooling and Physical Health

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Record: Laura S. Kabiri, Allison Butcher, Wayne Brewer, and Alexis Ortiz, “Youth  Physical Health and Years in American Homeschools: Are They Related?” in Health Promotion International (20 May, 2019): 1-6 [Abstract Here].

Summary: The authors, all affiliated with institutions in Texas, here report the results of a sample of 210 homeschooled children, who were recruited for the study from homeschooling groups around Houston, TX.  The researchers followed standard protocols in their profession and subjected the children to a series of standard tests of body composition, endurance, and muscular strength, Continue reading →

Posted in Health | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Homeschooling and Physical Health

Major Update to State Homeschooling Data

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Over on ICHER’s main page you can find the just updated data maintained by various  state departments of education.  Let me be quick to repeat what I’ve said for years, that the numbers reported here are unreliable for at least these reasons:

  1. Data collection is haphazard, varying widely by state, by district within a state, and from year-to-year based upon state budgets, which do not prioritize homeschooling data collection.
  2. The figures provided by some states don’t account for homeschoolers who may choose to do so by, say, registering as private schools.
  3. Some homeschoolers simply refuse to register with the state and hence are not included in these tallies.

Despite such caveats, I am pleased to report that the data we present this time is by far the most complete we have ever assembled.  My dedicated and capable workstudy student Emily Watson really beat the bushes this time, persistently tracking down state information we had previously not been able to acquire.  Below is a list of all the new editions to our data since it was posted last time over a year ago.  Is there a trend?  There most certainly is.  With only two exceptions (Wisconsin and Louisiana) for every state we have data the trend lines are up.  Some years ago I and others suggested that, given slowing growth rates, homeschooling might be reaching a plateau in popularity.  The most recent NCES data seemed to confirm that assessment.  Well, this data suggests otherwise.  According to these numbers, homeschooling continues to grow almost everywhere.  It is growing in the deep south.  It is growing in the northwest.  It is growing New England.  It is growing in the heartland.  This data cannot be trusted to give us a number or a rate of growth, but the trend line is unmistakable.  Consult our website for the full data.  Here are the updates: Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off on Major Update to State Homeschooling Data

Homeschooling Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Milton Gaither

Record: Simmons, C. A., & Campbell, J. M. (2019). Homeschool decision-making and evidence-based practice for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 31, 329-346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-018-9643-8

Summary: Simmons, assistant professor of psychology at Rowan University, and Campbell, who directs the Psy.D program at Western Carolina University, are both experts on Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Here they connect that shared interest with the topic of homeschooling.  Continue reading →

Posted in Special Needs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Homeschooling Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

THAT KIND OF GIRL: Homeschooling and Female Sexual Health

Posted on December 27, 2019 by Milton Gaither

Record: Madalyn Doucet Vicry, “That Kind of Girl: Effects of Homeschooling on the Sexual Health of Women and Girls” in Georgetown Journal of Gender and Law 18, no. 1 (March 2017). [Abstract Here]

Summary: Doucet, who herself was homeschooled in a conservative Christian environment first through twelfth grade, is a recent graduate of Georgetown Law and is now a district law clerk at U.S. District Courts.  Here she provides a critique of conservative Christian homeschooling’s approach to sex education and some recommendations for reform. Continue reading →

Posted in Legal, Policy/Regulation | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on THAT KIND OF GIRL: Homeschooling and Female Sexual Health