Family Star Montessori School is well acquainted with "under-three" child care having served 3000 children over the last twenty-three years. Many of the children come from below the poverty line and bring strong diversity to the enrollment of the program. More than half of our faculty are also diverse, coming from Peru, Bulgaria,…

This paper discusses MIKSIKE, an interdisciplinary study program integrating Web technology designed to serve elementary schools and home-schooling families. Developed by a small Estonian company, MIKSIKE is divided into cross-curricular study cycles that last 3 to 5 weeks. The online program works with a standard Web browser and has three areas:…

A Russian woman describes how living in remote Kamchatka helped her develop an aboriginal perspective. Chopping wood, hauling water, gathering food, alternately homeschooling her children and sending them to an ecological school, and interacting with local aboriginal people taught her the importance of conserving natural resources and living in…

Based on a database of over 500 resources, this paper explores the educational alternatives that exist today between the cracks of mainstream education and culture. It presents information about the growing numbers of schools and education centers that call themselves learner-centered, progressive, and/or holistic. Sources of data for this summary…

This paper describes an ethnographic study of how fundamentalist Christian parents new to home schooling are socialized to norms, beliefs, and values of the Christian home schooling organizations with which they are affiliated. Research involved participant observation and interviews with "home schoolers" and educators over an 18-month…

The Blondin family undertook a 9-month educational journey across the United States that revolved around a unique learning experience incorporating current technology. The family's three children were enrolled in Northwest Academy in northern Michigan, a science- and technology-based public academy for grades 6 through 12 that supported their plan…

The social context within which home schooling takes place is described, and the ideological frameworks and contexts within which parents (most of them fundamentalist Christians) make schooling decisions are examined. Research involved participant observation and interviews with 16 home schooling families (13 families self-labeled…

Home schooling, the educational alternative in which parents (or guardians) assume the primary responsibility for the education of their children, when responsibly done, is legally protected by the United States Constitution; however, home educators face a conglomeration of regulations, statutes, and laws. Home schools are regulated by individual…

Thumbnail sketches of four schools in Edmonds School District (Washington) illustrate ways they have built strong parent and community relationships: parent volunteers in a parent-cooperative school; a family-oriented neighborhood school; a school offering school-based health and social services; and a Cyberschool that provides resources to…

While the legal question of what constitutes a private school--and whether home schools can continue to operate as such--remains a matter to be resolved by the courts or further legislation, a separate question remains: What should be the role and relationship of home schools to the educational network of the future? Economically and…