Comments for Homeschooling Research Notes

Comment on Brian D. Ray and NHERI, part 2 by Shawn Mathis

Shawn Mathis — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:02:32 +0000

Excellent work. But the link to the HSLDA letter is goes to the finished produce. Here is the interet archive (wayback machine). I think this is important to have access to:
http://web.archive.org/web/20081012204503/http://www.hslda.org/HSstudy/Study_Letter.asp

Comment on School Refusal and Homeschooling by Milton Gaither

Milton Gaither — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:52:38 +0000

Thanks for these helpful clarifications Allison. Given the study as is, my advice for improving it would be to provide whatever demographic data you’ve got so that readers know as much as possible about the sample. What you offer here in this comment is a good start!

Comment on School Refusal and Homeschooling by Allison Wray

Allison Wray — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:30:40 +0000

Thank you, Milton Gaither, for your very accurate summary of our research. Just a few comments…
Pointing out, as we do, the limitations of our research, is an expression of caution. It does not mean that it is “weak”. It would be virtually impossible to do any home education research if we had to adhere to so called rigorous (mechanistic?) social science procedures. It would be interesting to know how our methodology could have been stronger. Ideally, we would have interviewed professionals involved at the time of refusal, but this was outside the scope of the study.
A few minor points:
1. You speculate that many families might already be known to Allison from her earlier years as a home educator; this was indeed the case for one participant but not for the remaining 23.
2. Only two of the children were fully grown at the time of research; the remaining 22 were between 7 and 16.
3. The experiences related included those of 3 people who had begun home education more than ten years before the research took place but the remaining 21 started between 0 and 5 years beforehand.
4. Alan Thomas is not an advocate of home education. He simply views it as a viable alternative to school.
5. We are very aware how difficult it can be to influence education authorities. We have made a very small start with our work, which we are disseminating to home education organisations who may wish to use it.

Comment on Using HULU to Track Homeschooling on TV by Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:26:12 +0000

I can’t find an email address, so I’ll leave this in a comment although the post is old. The most positive television portrayal of homeschoolers that I have ever seen was the very first episode of The Addams Family. We watched it one year on Netflix while we carved our Halloween pumpkins. We didn’t know when we queued it up what we were in for. My children were agog. We loved it. All homeschoolers should look it up.

Comment on Jennifer Lois’ HOME IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS, part 2 by Rosa

Rosa — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:09:56 +0000

I have not yet read her book. However, after reading your review I wonder about her decision to distinguish homeschooling mothers into only two groups. It seems to only support her own bias. How much does “a priori bias” factor into her research and how she formulated her research questions and interpreted the data. This is a serious concern. It is far too easy to “box” a subject in by framing questions to get the results you seek. How disappointing…

Comment on Jennifer Lois’ HOME IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS, part 2 by Kim Rankin

Kim Rankin — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 03:14:29 +0000

Just finished reading your book, Milton. Very much appreciate finding your site and this review in particular. I have homeschooled 20 years and am particularly interested in the affect homeschooling has on the mother. So much research is done on the children, but I feel there is significant work to be done on the role it plays and influences on the parents’ lives. During my 17th year of homeschooling, I returned to finish my bachelor’s degree and have subsequently started a MA in English. I am currently exploring some ideas I have regarding the homeschool mother’s literacy activities experienced through homeschool co-ops. I have visited the ICHER site and explored the research section there. Fabulous! If you have ideas of specific articles I might look at that would relate to my area of interest, I would love to hear from you.

Comment on Jennifer Lois’ HOME IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS, part 2 by Milton Gaither

Milton Gaither — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:35:01 +0000

She does not. Mitchell Stevens’ 2001 book KINGDOM OF CHILDREN did, and Kunzman’s 2009 WRITE THESE LAWS does to a lesser extent. Thought dated, Stevens’ book is still a very rich study that would be worth the time. One of his major themes is that many of these ostensibly conservative people often have quite progressive and romantic views of child nature.

Comment on Jennifer Lois’ HOME IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS, part 2 by Adam Laats

Adam Laats — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:52:08 +0000

Milton,
Great review. Thanks for offering such in-depth descriptions of the book and your reactions. I’m planning to read the whole book as well. You mentioned in part I that Lois is not particularly interested in the pedagogical decisions or outcomes of these homeschooling mothers. But does she spend any time with it at all?
I’m particularly curious about the phenomenon I’ve heard repeated a few times lately: conservative Christian “first-choice” homeschoolers, who also articulate a desire for what must best be called a “progressive” pedagogy. These mothers and fathers want their children to learn in a Biblical context, but they also want their children to avoid the time-clock, Taylorized institutional pressures of traditional schooling. Does Lois explore these issues at all with her sample?
Thanks,
Adam

Comment on Jennifer Lois’ HOME IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS, part 2 by Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:14:40 +0000

Great review and I’m looking forward to reading the book. The “first choice” versus “second choice” distinction is an interesting one. In my observation there are two other reasons why “second choice” homeschoolers are less likely to continue to homeschool as their kids get older. One, because often they choose to homeschool for reasons that are outgrown. So, for example, the family may turn to homeschooling when their wiggly ADHDish son has trouble in a traditional elementary school classroom. By middle or high school as he’s outgrown these behaviors and so he returns to a traditional classroom. As more and more of his secular peers make this decision to return to school it becomes difficult to have the mass of students necessary to form good support networks and co-ops at the high school level. Of course this probably varies a lot geographically, but as a homeschooler in the mid-South I’ve known many “second choice” parents who wanted to continue to homeschool through high school, but their teens insisted on quitting because they were frustrated by the lack of access to a homeschool peer group. The teens enjoyed homeschooling while they had friends, but as their friends went back to school it got lonely. While there are thriving secular high school groups, they do tend to be limited to certain parts of the country.

Comment on Jennifer Lois’ HOME IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS, part 2 by Jen Lois

Jen Lois — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:36:12 +0000

Thank you so much for this thoughtful and comprehensive review! I really appreciate your careful consideration of my book as well as your detailed critique. Extra pleased to hear you found it a significant contribution to the field. Thanks!