Homeschooling for Excellence

Ok I admit we are friends of the Colfax family even if we have STANFORD as our university of choice. The one thing about their book which other books fail to share is the whole lifestyle issue. Since home schooling is a lifestyle choice and not just an educational choice. David it should also be noted ran and was elected to their local school board so this is an added plus since they are not writing a book about how evil public education is, but more an issue of poor educational choices overall.They write about how they used their California homestead as a teaching tool. And in this day and age of the need (or so it seems) for electrical gadgets galore, they write about teaching their sons valuable life issues, like working and saving for the future. They built their home from the ground up, and a few years later they boys strung the power lines from the road on up to the house, which not only taught the boys valuable construction skills but also issues dealing with money and saving expenses.They raised their own food, and over time they also started raising goats and other livestock. It used to make me so mad when Grant was accepted to Harvard when I would read about the "Goat Boy" at Harvard as if he was some mountain hermit discovering the big city. He went on to graduate Harvard and them medical school, as well as becoming a Fullbright Scholar to New Zealand.Another excellent point the books shares is that environment does play a MAJOR role in a childs life and ability to succeed. Two of the sons are adopted, and are minority race, and yet they soared as high as the other sons. I even hate mentioning the adoption and race issue, but do so only because the book PROVES that any child can succeed and that home schooling is not just a wonder bread middle class ideal.The books also addresses what I feel at very important issues like the heavy subjects i.e. math and sciences. While also pointing out that home schoolers MUST be challenged to take hard subjects. That local science groups and junior colleges welcome home schoolers as they do anybody who is SERIOUS about learning new ideas. Junior colleges also encourage home schoolers to enroll to further test their grey matter, and help prepare for a four year college. The books speaks to the whole issue of testing and being as well prepared as possible.This is a MUST own book for ANY home schooler who is serious about ACADEMIC excellence. Which should be #1.

When I bought "Hard Times in Paradise" and "Homeschooling For Excellence" in 1988, I was pregnant with my only child. I did not think that a federally controlled, compulsory education was healthy, nor did I think that small children should be removed from their parents' care at such an early age. I was hungry for information that would give me a perspective on what to expect. David and Micki Colfax have done a wonderful job of explaining the hits and misses that comprised the raising of their children outside of the standard educational systems. The long term successes of their sons are enough to inspire any parent. Also, the landscape of their homestead is a wonderful backdrop to their lives. I can't recommend their books enough.

The Colfaxes are the homeschool movement's Poster Children. Back in the '70's and '80's they homeschooled their four children who went on to Ivy League colleges. This is not a how-to book, although there are some curriculum ideas laced through it. It is a journal of how the Colfaxes unconventionally educated their sons back when almost everyone else used the public schools. One point that sticks out in my mind from this book. The Colfax boys worked hard physically building their ranch. That may have been the silver bullet that made their program so successful.

We put to use the same reading program they had mentioned in their book. It has been such a blessing to see my children beg me every day to do their school work. We had previously use Hooked-on-Phonics, a disaster. The children hated it, as did I and my husband. It was so awful."Homeschooling For Excellence" has been such a help. I never realized that children could love to learn as much as they do!Don't just read this book. Take their advise! The difference it has made in our lives is amazing and wonderful!To the authors: Thank you so much.

When we were trying to decide whether to homeschool our children or not, this book pushed us over the edge into the exciting adventure of home education. The authors' comments and insights about the state of modern public education were eye-opening. The gentle hands-on approach to education they used with their boys enabled their children to attend Harvard University! This is a great book to lend to your skeptical friends and relatives when they start questioning whether homeschooled children will be adequately prepared to function fully in college, the work world, and society at large. Does homeschooling REALLY work? You bet it does! And the Colfax's show you how....