Abstract: Despite the fact that 1.5 to 2.1 million children are home-schooled, there is limited research on the impact of home-schooling on children’s social skills.  This study compares 53 home-schooled, 49 private-schooled, and 48 public-schooled children between the ages of 8 and 12 on social skills, as measured by the Parent and Student Forms of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS).  In addition, the groups’ satisfaction with social relationships were compared using the Peer Network and Dyadic Loneliness Scale (PNDLS), the Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire (LSDQ), and the Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS).  There were significant differences between the home-schooled children and private-schooled children on the SSRS-Student Form and between home-schooled children and the public-schooled children on the FQS.

Chinese Graduate Students’ Perspectives on Home Schooling

Although an established alternative form of American education, the concept of home schooling is just beginning to surface in China. Few Chinese have knowledge of home schooling yet alone consider this form of education. However, graduate students studying in the field of education are aware of this unusual alternative to traditional schooling, one that leads to many questions and discussion. Findings from interviews with twenty-four graduate students (former teachers in Chinese schools) present their understandings, concerns, and perspectives of home schooling. These include implications of a one-child policy, concerns about socialization, changing roles for Chinese women, cultural values, economic issues and lessons Chinese teachers could learn from home schooling. Findings provide a unique Chinese-Marxism perspective on home schooling and discussion addresses the potential of home schooling in the PRC.

Michael H. Romanowski, Volume 17, Number 3, p. 7-15