Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 160 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-129).

abstract: This study investigates the hidden curriculum of home learning, through participant observation of ten families, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), who chose to educate their children at home. The term "hidden curriculum" is typically used to describe the values and behaviors that are taught to students implicitly, through the structure and organization of formal schooling. I used the concept of hidden curriculum as a starting point for understanding how the organization and process of home learning might also convey lessons to its participants, lessons that are not necessarily an explicit object of study in the home. Using naturalistic inquiry and a multiple case study method, I spent a minimum of ten hours each with ten families, five who homeschool and five who unschool. Through questionnaires, taped interviews, and observation, I documented typical home learning practices and purposes. These families were selected through a combination of purposive and snowball sampling to reflect a diversity of approaches to home learning. Key findings were organized into four main categories that incorporated the significant elements of the hidden curriculum of these homes: relationships, time, the learning process, and technology. The study offers three main contributions to the literature on home learning, to families, whether their children attend public schools or not, to policy makers and educators, and to the general public. First, in the case of these LDS families, their religious beliefs significantly shaped the hidden curriculum and specifically impacted relationships, use of time, attitudes about learning, and engagement with technology. Second, lines were blurred between unschooling and homeschooling practices, similar to the overlap found in self-reports and other discussions of home learning. Third, similar to families who do not home school, these families sought to achieve a balance in children's use of technology and other educational approaches. Lastly, I discuss the significant challenges that lay in defining curriculum, overt as well as hidden, in the context of home learning. This research contributes insights into alternative ways of educating children that can inform parents and educators of effective elements of other paradigms. In defining their own educational success, these families model the kind of teaching and learning advocated by professionals but that remain elusive in institutionalized education, inviting a re-thinking of and discussions about the "one best system" approach. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

M.Ed.

As more and more families opt to home school their children, public schools are being faced with the need to know more about the families that home school their children within their division because many of these children will later enroll in public school. The purpose of this study was to determine ways that home schooling parents believe public schools can better interface and assist families who choose to home school their children. In light of the information gained from this study, public school officials may gain insight into: 1) how to effectively communicate with parents of home schooled pupils; 2) what services are needed to support the children in the home school settings in their division; and 3) what strategies need to be implemented to provide a positive transition from the home school setting to the public school setting in those circumstances where home schoolers return to public schools. A questionnaire was used to gather demographic information and to identify families to participate in a formal interview. An interview protocol was developed to obtain information. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. The major findings revealed that most home schooling parents would welcome a collaborative relationship with the public schools they could see benef for their children. Parents were open to receiving assistance from public schools in providing opportunities for their children to attend classes, providing inservice for parents to become more effective teachers, sharing facilities and materials, sharing information regarding curriculum improvement, and sharing ideas and mutual concerns for enhancing learning for all children. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to discuss the factors the reading-classics motivation and influencing reading motivation of Children¡¦s reading-classics at home schooling. From the one-year pilot study, the Lin Family became my partners of this study through the activity to join the reading-classics. Thus, they were invited to be part of this study. By the interview guides with 17 reading motivation and my theoretical sensitivity, I evolved the intensive field and truly entered the everyday life of children¡¦s reading-classics at home schooling. The data were collected by observation, interviewing, and the documentation. Other people also input some important ideas during the traveling between Liouguei and Pindong. After the three-months exploration, the results showed that culture has effects on reading- classics and reading motivation. There were several important results listed as follows: 1. Modeling is the foundation to make the reading-classics and reading efficiency better. 2. Creating the classics environment has an impact on readers¡¦ choices of reading values. 3. Providing the simulation of reading-classics culture is the one of the resources to improve the curiosity of reading-classics and reading. 4. Realizing the cultural importance will increase the reading efficacy of reading-classics. 5. Classics Examinations have become the discipline of reading-classics efficacy and challenge. 6. Parents-children co-study and the sages culture help solving the reading problems. 7. Enjoying the reading-classics culture motivates the competition in reading-classics. Through the research tour, reading-classics at home schooling and culture are the key factors influencing Children¡¦s reading-classics and reading motivation at home schooling. After considering the limitation in this study, the interaction between researcher and reading-classics at home schooling, I hope that the study could provide some inputs giving the education of reading-classics some new ideas and improving the future research in this area.

The problem of the study was to investigate the health education content areas taught by home school educators in Indiana. The study was designed to answer the following research questions: (a) What was the content taught in home schools health education curricula? (b) To what extent were home educators presenting health education curricula? (c) What were the means by which health education is delivered by home school educators? (d) What was the amount of training home educators have received in preparation to teach health education?An instrument was developed, pilot tested, and administered to a random sample of 600 home school educators registered with the Indiana Department of Education. Eighty five instruments were returned for a response rate of 14% and appropriate descriptive statistics were generated.From the analysis of the data it was found that home school educators were teaching health education 87.05%, the majority of health education was taught during non-structured teachable moments, the Bible was the most used curriculum guide 55.41%, the number one resources used was the public library 62.16%, and the majority of home school educators in the study had at least some college education 75.31%. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Ideologue, pedagogue, pragmatic : homeschooling factions take shape on the national stage, 1970s-2010 -- Building a homeschool movement in Indiana and Delaware County, 1980-2010 -- Homeschooling at the grassroots : an ethnography of selected practitioners in Delaware County, 2001-2010. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of History

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [129]-139).

Children’s rights to participate in decision-making in matters which impact them directly, is a topic leading to increased research since the 1990s. Today, most countries, including South Africa, have included the right of children to participate and to be heard, in their legislation. In reality, however, there is still a big gap in the implementation of children’s right to participation. Home schooling as an alternative to mainstream schooling has also gained momentum in South Africa with an estimated 50 000 – 75 000 children being home schooled. When children are home schooled, the families spend more time together than children who spend 6-8 hours per day attending a local school. Decisions with regard to curriculum, subjects and social interaction which would normally be the responsibility of the school, now become the responsibility of the parents. Children in the adolescent life phase have an increasing need to gain independence from their parents. In the home school context, the fact that the parents are also the teachers, could lead to increased frustration and conflict between adolescents and parents. In this context it would therefore be important that the adolescents should be allowed to participate in decisions pertaining to their schooling. This study focused on exploring adolescents’ participation in decision-making in the home schooling context. This research is important as little is known about the perceptions of adolescents and their parents about participation in the home schooling context. The research took place in the Western Cape. Eight families, which consisted of 21 participants, were involved in the study. Data saturation determined the sample size. The participants were selected from specific home schooling forums and had to reside in the Western Cape. Semi-structured interviews were held with all the participants and an interview guide was used for consistency. Different themes were identified by using thematic analysis. The study found that families have different views about the adolescents’ role in participation. It varied from adolescents who were allowed to initiate change to adolescents not allowed to participate in decisions at all. In the families where the adolescents were allowed limited or no participation in decision-making, the adolescents indicated that they understood that their parents had their best interest at heart, although they felt that they (the adolescents) would welcome a bigger say. It is recommended that home schooling families be made aware of the need of their adolescent children to be allowed to participate more in decision-making in the home schooling context on all levels, ranging from educational matters to social interaction. / MSW, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Children’s rights to participate in decision-making in matters which impact them directly, is a topic leading to increased research since the 1990s. Today, most countries, including South Africa, have included the right of children to participate and to be heard, in their legislation. In reality, however, there is still a big gap in the implementation of children’s right to participation. Home schooling as an alternative to mainstream schooling has also gained momentum in South Africa with an estimated 50 000 – 75 000 children being home schooled. When children are home schooled, the families spend more time together than children who spend 6-8 hours per day attending a local school. Decisions with regard to curriculum, subjects and social interaction which would normally be the responsibility of the school, now become the responsibility of the parents. Children in the adolescent life phase have an increasing need to gain independence from their parents. In the home school context, the fact that the parents are also the teachers, could lead to increased frustration and conflict between adolescents and parents. In this context it would therefore be important that the adolescents should be allowed to participate in decisions pertaining to their schooling. This study focused on exploring adolescents’ participation in decision-making in the home schooling context. This research is important as little is known about the perceptions of adolescents and their parents about participation in the home schooling context. The research took place in the Western Cape. Eight families, which consisted of 21 participants, were involved in the study. Data saturation determined the sample size. The participants were selected from specific home schooling forums and had to reside in the Western Cape. Semi-structured interviews were held with all the participants and an interview guide was used for consistency. Different themes were identified by using thematic analysis. The study found that families have different views about the adolescents’ role in participation. It varied from adolescents who were allowed to initiate change to adolescents not allowed to participate in decisions at all. In the families where the adolescents were allowed limited or no participation in decision-making, the adolescents indicated that they understood that their parents had their best interest at heart, although they felt that they (the adolescents) would welcome a bigger say. It is recommended that home schooling families be made aware of the need of their adolescent children to be allowed to participate more in decision-making in the home schooling context on all levels, ranging from educational matters to social interaction. / MSW, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015