Emotion, behaviour, and the structuring of home education in Israel: the role of routine

The practice of home education has expanded considerably and international research has shown that different families perform home education in very different ways. Nevertheless, there has been no examination to date of the relationship between the type of home education practised and the emotional and behavioural aspects of children. The research examined this question by investigating the structure of the home education practised—the degree of daily routine and educational goal orientation in the family—as well as the emotional and behavioural problems of 65 home-educated children in Israel. The results indicated that the existence of a daily routine and educational goal orientation in the home correlated with fewer emotional and behavioural problems. The findings suggest a relationship between the structure of home education and the emotional and behavioural world of the child. In the light of the absence of previous research on this relationship, the present results are relevant to both the theoretical understanding of this subject and the practice of those involved in home education in different countries of the world.