Studies and opinions on home education

Single parents who are homeschooling

Karen is a homeschooling mom who is writing a book on single parent homeschooling, as a resource for those who do it and those who want to. From the 14 survey questions (listed below) she hopes to gain insight into ideas, challenges, ways of coping, and resources that single parents can use. From the stories she will pick a few to feature in the book (assuming your consent, obviously). Please send your survey replies to her directly at karenhendry (add @quadro.net to complete the email address).

Single Parent Homeschooling Survey Questions

1. Why do you homeschool?
2. What is your single greatest challenge as a single parent who homeschools?
3. What are other challenges?
4. Is there family support?
5. What do you do when/if you don't have family support?
6. How do you work with your ex-spouse when it comes to homeschooling (this is one more thing you have to communicate about)?
7. How do you manage finances and earn money?
8. How do you deal with any gaps in your own knowledge? How do you teach subjects you are not comfortable or familiar with?
9. How do you stay organized?
10. How do you care for yourself?
11. How have you benefited from homeschooling?
12. How have your children benefited from homeschooling?
13. What would you do differently if you had the chance to do it again?
14. Please add any more thoughts and experiences you feel are relevant.

Adults who were home educated as children

Have you been home educated as a child? Are you interested in sharing your story for the benefit of other home educated children and parents? Are you interested in making others understand better what it means to be home educated? Has home education influenced your life in a powerful way?

Are you interested in participating in a home education research study?

Looking for subjects age 18 or older who were home educated for one year or more, who are either enrolled in post-secondary education, dropped out without completing a program of study, or have a post-secondary degree.

Florentina Ilinca is a researcher interested in how you see your home education experience when you look back in time.
phone: 416-313-4109
email: florentinailinca@ (add yahoo.ca to complete the email address)

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Parents' Reasons For Homeschooling

My name is Sarrah Lawendy, and I am a part-time Masters student at the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario. I am currently conducting research on the reasons why parents chose to home-school their children, and would like to invite you to participate in this research.

The aims of my research are to determine what the parental motives are behind home-schooling. In addition I would like to investigate parents' perceptions of the public school system and if their perceptions influence why they chose to school their children at home. Information for this research will be collected by means of semi- structured interviews. A questionnaire of 45 questions relating to perceptions regarding public schooling, and the nature and purpose of schooling will be completed by parents who have chosen to home-school their children. Three sets of parents will be interviewed once for approximately 45 minutes, at a later date in order to gain a greater insight into their motivation for home-schooling.

The information collected will be used for research purposes only, and neither your name, nor the information which could identify you will be used. All physical data, including the interview transcripts and survey instruments will be kept in a locked cabinet, and will remain confidential to the researcher and faculty advisors. Once the study is completed, the audio cassettes will be destroyed and the transcripts will not be used again prior to the consent of the subject.

Should you consent to participate in this research, please be aware that you have the right to withdraw at any time, or to decline to answer any specific questions you would prefer not to answer.

If you have any questions about this research, or any comments to make now or at a later date, please contact Sarrah Lawendy at slawendy@ (add hotmail.com to complete the email address), or Professor Sharon Rich at (519) 661-2034.

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Social interactions of parents and their ADHD homeschooled children

I am a doctoral student at the Boston University School of Education in the department of Special Education, doing research for my dissertation. My research entails looking at the social interactions of parents and their children in homeschools. The population of children that I am studying is children who have ADHD-inattentive type and/or ADHD- hyperactive type. My interest in this population of children stems from the struggles that my own son, now aged 21 has endured his entire school experience, and the hope that my research will help other children who deal with similar obstacles.

All children in the study must be homeschooled, between 7-13 years old, and diagnosed to have ADHD-inattentive type and diagnosed by a physician, a psychologist, school officials or according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-TR-IV-R). Additionally, neither the parent nor child can have another special needs diagnosis nor any psychiatric illness or disorder. Each child and parent who participates in the study will receive remuneration.

Please contact Esta M. Rapoport
61 Cowdin Circle Chappaqua,
New York NY 10514
USA
Phone: 914-241-3147
Cell Phone: 914-629-4225
E-mail: Erapoport1@ (add aol.com to complete the email address)