This document consists of a collection of the first 14 issues of the "Home School Researcher," an interacative newsletter dedicated solely to Home Centered Learning Research. Purposes of the newsletter are to: (1) profile researchers of home schooling; (2) provide information on resources for research activities; (3) discuss problematic…

This review of literature compares schooling at home and in school. After definitions of home schooling and conventional schooling are supplied, general characteristics of home schools are delineated. Discussion subsequently focuses on the outcomes of home schooling. With respect to cognitive outcomes, the evidence suggests that youth educated in…

This synopsis provides highlights of a national home schooling survey of 1,516 families in the United States. The study explored five fundamental questions: (1) What are home education families' demographic and educational characteristics? (2) To what extent have home-schooling families been engaged in legal matters regarding their involvement in…

This article discusses home schooling gifted children, including reasons families choose to home school their children, laws regulating home schooling, the educational background of parents who home school, and curriculum options. Advantages and disadvantages of home schooling are explored, along with data indicating the higher achievement of home…

Increasing numbers of children are meeting state compulsory education requirements at home rather than at school. Although home instruction was once the mainstay of frontier American education, some educators now regard the practice as suspect. This paper hopes to reconcile opposing views by examining home schooling, including numbers of children,…

This document consists of five issues of the "Home School Researcher," a quarterly newsletter dedicated to research on instruction in the home. Volume 4, number 3 reports findings of a comparative study of the reasoning abilities of home-educated children. Also included are profiles of four categories of home schoolers: new age,…

Describes Ohio's Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program's dual enrollment program. Outlines the options under which students can attend college classes, the rules, and the structure of the program. Details the PSEO process at Columbus State Community College (Ohio), including procedures for admission, counselor meetings, and course…

The reactions of the following people to the home school research in this issue are discussed: (1) a home school parent-teacher; (2) a home school organization leader and his son; and (3) a public school teacher. The respondents found the research a valuable lens through which to view their practice. (BJV)

A mother and daughter describe their family's educational experiences with a K-12 noncoercive free school, Upattinas School and Resource Center (Pennsylvania), and with home schooling and public school. They have learned that people learn best when placed in a supportive environment. Forced learning, as in public school, tends to turn off the…

A mother (Linda) and daughter (Katie) tried a cooperative "unschool," public school, home schooling, private school, and returned to unschooling. Linda feels that public school compromises creativity and freedom too much, but she had trouble letting go of the structure. Katie says unschooling let her enjoy her relationship with her mother, focus…

Whether the constructs of value consistency and social capital can be used to explain the achievement outcomes of home education is explored. It is evident that children exposed to home schooling experience a high degree of value consistency. The values to which such children are exposed in education are those of their families. This would seem to…

Compared to conventionally schooled children, home-schooled children do as well or better academically; they are well adjusted socially, find employment, and go on to further education. Communication technologies allow children to learn academic foundations at home. Discusses parents' reasons for choosing home schooling, legal status in various…

Public school educators often fail to appreciate the various reasons home schooling is an increasingly attractive option for families of nearly every class, race, religion, and political perspective. Parents preferring to home school their children generally reveal one of two motivations for their decision. 'Idealogues' aim to promote specific…

The available evidence indicates that home school youth of compulsory education age have been scoring equal or better than their conventional school peers on measures of cognitive achievement and desirable affective traits; the significance of this is discussed. (BJV)

This study investigated autonomous local home schooling parent support groups in Kansas. The home schooling movement in Kansas is an alternative educational entity whose membership has recently been increasing. Accompanying support groups have also increased in number. The purpose of this study was to conduct a naturalistic inquiry into the…