This research addresses the opinions of parents of homeschooled children on the issue of homeschooling. Through both quantitative and qualitative research - a questionnaire with 78 parents of homeschooled children from Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, their opinions on the selection of a school for their children, problems in compulsory examination, and the selection of teaching methods and forms were found out. On the basis of the research findings, it was possible to state that criteria for school selection was not related to problems in the compulsory examination of the children, and the pedagogical education of the respondents (parents) did not influence the selection of didactic methods or forms.

The research dealt with opinions of homeschooling parents on preferred homeschooling methods and forms. Using the questionnaire method, it mapped opinions of 78 parents from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. It examined the influence of selected variables, i.e. age of parents and number of homeschooled children, on the preference for methods and forms of education. On the basis of research findings it could be stated that younger respondents preferred unschooling more than older respondents. The older respondents, on the other hand, preferred classical teaching methods and forms more. It was also found that the number of homeschooled children had no influence on parents’ choice of homeschooling methods and forms.

Psychological determinants of homeschooling

The aim of the study was to analyze the psychological determinants of starting homeschooling by parents towards their school-age children. We analyzed the dependence of this decision on personality traits according to the Big Five, anxiety as a trait, hope trait and factors such as political and religious views or parents’ own school experiences. A comparative analysis has been made with parents whose children attend public primary schools. We used Hope for Success Questionnaire (Łaguna, Trzebiński & Zięba, 2005), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Wrześniewski, Sosnowski, Jaworowska & Fecenec, 2011), IPIP-BFM-20 Questionnaire (Topolewska, Skimina, Strus, Cieciuch & Rowiński, 2014), questions about homeschooling and demographics. Stronger hope for success, ability to find solutions, willpower, emotional stability and intellect, lower anxiety and conscientiousness were observed in parents undertaking homeschooling compared to parents of school children. A qualitative analysis was also conducted on the declaration of reasons for undertaking homeschooling. The article ends with recommendations for further empirical research.