The pendulum has swung from strong parent involvement in the home- and community-based schools of the agrarian 17th century to the bureaucratic factory-model schools of the industrial revolution. Today's parents are making inroads. The tension between professional educators and parents is being expressed in open forums such as…

Discusses characteristics and trends of home schools and workplaces. Use of computers and computer applications (CD-ROMS, interactive software, and networking) in home schooling provides a compatible environment for future home-based businesses and telecommuting trends. Sidebars include information on home schools on line; standardized test…

Defines and discusses alternatives to traditional public schooling, including private and home schools, contract schools, charter schools, and school-based finance systems. Implications for principals are reflected in a drive for more rigorous state tests and standards and the growing use of technology, which stresses independent study. Charter…

For 11 years, a private school operated out of a rented house has offered homeschoolers, charter- and public-school students, families, preschoolers, community activists, college students, apprentices, and educators programs that reflect the homeschooling lifestyle and incorporate feminine-based education. Describes the school's structure,…

In Japan, not attending public school is stigmatized, and alternative education is in its infancy. Reviews free spaces, which are not schools, but places for traumatized students to recover; home schooling networks; government-approved independent alternative schools; alternative after-school programs; and innovative programs within the system.…

A home schooling father and college professor describes the personal traits of a good teacher: a willingness to engage in child-led learning; genuine humility and compassion; the inner security to teach others freely; a willingness to learn, often from students; and patience. Parents who wish to isolate their children from the world or force-feed…

A Nebraska district surveyed parents' reasons for sending their children to private or Catholic schools. Reasons could be grouped in categories: concerns and issues (such as religion) that public schools cannot address; and concerns (such as discipline, values, curriculum, and academic rigor) public schools could address by changing their programs…

Public education focuses on the lowest common denominator; cannot meet individual student needs; teaches competition; teaches children to learn for praise, not for the sake of learning; and has a 40 percent failure rate. These factors lead many to choose home schooling, but approaches to home schooling are so varied that a common definition of…

Teenage alumni of homeschooling reflect on their educational experiences and life lessons regarding the value of work, the benefits of persistence and effort in meeting their goals, and accepting individual differences. Homeschooling is an alternative lifestyle, a way of being a family that incorporates nurturing children's minds as well as their…

Common elements among unschooled families include an environment conducive to exploration and experimentation, adult models and facilitators of learning, and underlying trust that children will learn. Public education limits its expectations of children to narrow standards of behavior and academic achievement, whereas unschooling allows children…

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…

This book contains a collection of articles from "Home Education Magazine" for the years 1984-94. The articles offer views and information on socialization, the selection of curriculum materials, networking, evaluation and accountability, legal considerations, political involvement, higher education, and the location of resources. The book's six…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the relationship between structural conditions and parent proclivity to educate their children at home. The term "structural costs" was used to refer to conditions within the district that could be changed by the district. Data were obtained from a survey sent to the departments of education in…

Fifth Graders (N=626) from public, Catholic, Christian, and home schools reacted to values of forgiveness versus retribution in the two main versions of "Cinderella" by choosing which ending they preferred for themselves, for a 4-year old sister, and for a 4-year old brother. Girls preferred the forgiveness ending for themselves…

To provide information about legal decisions on home-based private education programs, court cases decided since 1980 and the courts' analyses of constitutional issues raised during litigation are summarized. The memorandum discusses cases that involved challenges to the constitutionality of state home schooling regulations and are based on: (1)…