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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I absolutely loved this book. When we got the book, my husband and 3 children and I were already homesteading and I had started to homeschool my children. Our experiences were slightly different, but at the same time some were very similar. I could relate to their struggles. And I also remember the '70's when they started their adventure. Homesteading and homeschooling is so much more acceptable now! They were pioneers for the rest of us!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, if rather smug, book
Review: I agree 100% with Kenneth Robinson's comments on this book. It is definitely a "good read;" it was almost a page-turner. Many times I was amazed by, and sometimes I greatly admired, the authors' risk-taking, fortitude, and adventurous spirit. Certainly I could understand the importance they placed on family, and the way they valued learning by doing, which is something I believe we in the mainstream society have come to appreciate more over the years. However, I was less than charmed by their bitterness, strangely judgmental and superior outlook toward anyone who was different than them, and economic view of the animal kingdom. (I was also amused that they acted as if they were the first, and only, individuals on the planet to discover cooking from scratch, organic gardening, 4H, farming, etc.: many others do it, some with far less educational advantages, out of necessity, and to these multitudes it simply a natural way of life, not some grandiose philosophy.) I was left wondering why, considering their values and background, they so prized their sons entry into Harvard? And why did they bite their tongues regarding their politics when they wanted to take advantage of a neighbor to get water?
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, if rather smug, book
Review: This book is well worth the money, if you want to learn what the Colfax kids really did to become the students that were accepted at Harvard. All the real life learning, hands-on projects that were essential to survival in the CA mountains, and learning to think, improvise and make it work! However, the Colfax's are just as proud of their fourth son, who didn't attend Harvard. Read in conjunction with "Homeschooling for Excellence" you get the whole picture of one way to provide a well-rounded education for your homeschooled kids.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent first-hand account of the evolution of a homeschoo
Review: This book is well worth the money, if you want to learn what the Colfax kids really did to become the students that were accepted at Harvard. All the real life learning, hands-on projects that were essential to survival in the CA mountains, and learning to think, improvise and make it work! However, the Colfax's are just as proud of their fourth son, who didn't attend Harvard. Read in conjunction with "Homeschooling for Excellence" you get the whole picture of one way to provide a well-rounded education for your homeschooled kids.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing, Light reading
Review: This is not a how-to manual or a Thoreau-like discourse on the philosophy of agrarian self-reliant living. It's an amusing, anecdotal story of their homesteading endeavors.I found the Colfaxs' perseverance in the face of often great adversity inspiring and admirable. On the other hand, I found their martyr complex extremely tiresome. David Colfax was denied tenure at a couple of colleges allegedly due to their heavy involvement in left-wing causes. I find it perplexing why a man who espouses self-reliance believes that he has a right to tenure--which is welfare for those with a PhD. and a willingness to jump through the hoops. Still, this is a fine, light read--if you get the book at the library or in the bargain bin. It's certainly not worth paying for a new copy.
Rating:
Summary: Homeschooling may not be a panacea, but it's Paradise to us!
Review: 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. I can't recommend their books enough.
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