Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Overview
Review: An excellent overview of homeschooling.
The first story is rather intimidating, because they have such a full on homeschooling routine and really have got it all together. It's better to start with the 4th story, then coming back to the first 3 later.
Rating:
Summary: Gives you a vision for homeschooling
Review: As someone considering homeschooling and not knowing many who did, it was hard for me to have a "vision" for how families did it - what did they do all day?? A homeschooling friend gave me this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It really gave me a feel not just for how different families approach homeschooling, but how I could - there's a lot of very practical ideas from very varied perspectives. I would imagine it would be beneficial also for someone currently homeschooling who is looking for some fresh ideas. I appreciated the many references to materials and comments on them. I recently got Mary Pride's books and am now going to go back to this book and see what worked for different families (looking in particular at the materials used by the familes I identified more with).
Rating: 
Summary: Not as unbiased as I thought
Review: I am a non-christian interested in unschooling my kids and I was led to believe that this book showed all sides of the story -- some christian, some not, some "school at home," some unschool, etc. For the most part it was variegated, but I felt it leaned heavily in the direction of christian "school at home"-ers. Maybe someone should write a "patchwork" book all about 30 non-christian unschooling families! I'd buy it! I also felt that some of the parents MUST have fudged a little. I mean, the lengthy list of activities in one day seems highly suspect for some of the families. Isn't one of the reasons for homeschooling the unlimited amount of time you can spend on any one activity? I felt some of the parents doing the writing were self conscious and trying too hard to impress. For all the talk in the foreword/intro about "imperfections" many of them seemed too perfect. I would have preferred realism, warts and all.
Rating:
Summary: Daily "devotions" for homeschoolers?!
Review: I love teaching my kids at home, but I do get a little lonesome sometime. The most important thing I got from this book was the encouragement to stay true to my "instincts" and do what my own kids need. I got many ideas from other parents and enjoyed the visits in their homes. I'm starting the sequel tonight. Thanks, Nancy Lande, for such a wonderful pair of books!
Rating:
Summary: If you are considering homeschooling, buy this book first!
Review: I'm extensively researching homeschooling as have been considering educating my now 3-year-old this way when the time comes. This is by far the most exciting and inspiring thing I have read on the subject. Any doubts I had about homeschooling were taken away by this book. I loved reading about a day in the life of different homeschoolers and then there were updates from a year or so later to see how things were going and what had changed with each family. The book confirmed what I knew in my heart - that homeschooling is for us! It helped me realize that there are many ways to homeschool and the joy is in finding what works for your family and your children and growing and learning together as you go along. I'm looking forward to the next book by this author, which is coming out a few months from now!
Rating:
Summary: Never O'Clock
Review: I'm the author of the chapter Never O'Clock. When I was asked to contribute to this project, I thought it was a good idea. When I saw the completed book, I decided it had been a GREAT idea. Nancy Lande did a wonderful job putting the stories together. She gracefully editted the contributions, and anyone reading these thirty stories will come away with her central message: there is no one right way to do homeschooling. These thirty families are each "doing it the right way," even though they are doing it 30 different ways. If you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall--if you wonder, "What do homeschoolers DO all day?" or "Why homeschool when you can send your kids to school free and have the public school take care of it?" then read these days-in-the-life stories. They will surprise you. Some of them will leave you thinking, "I could never do it that way," but others will let you see a vision of what just might be possible for your family, too....
Rating:
Summary: Never O'Clock
Review: I'm the author of the chapter Never O'Clock. When I was asked to contribute to this project, I thought it was a good idea. When I saw the completed book, I decided it had been a GREAT idea. Nancy Lande did a wonderful job putting the stories together. She gracefully editted the contributions, and anyone reading these thirty stories will come away with her central message: there is no one right way to do homeschooling. These thirty families are each "doing it the right way," even though they are doing it 30 different ways. If you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall--if you wonder, "What do homeschoolers DO all day?" or "Why homeschool when you can send your kids to school free and have the public school take care of it?" then read these days-in-the-life stories. They will surprise you. Some of them will leave you thinking, "I could never do it that way," but others will let you see a vision of what just might be possible for your family, too....
Rating:
Summary: just like a reality TV show--but in book format
Review: This book dedicates each chapter to a family telling how they spend their day, practically every minute of it. After reading many books and magazines about homeschooling, I still didn't quite understand how people spend the time during their day (until I read this book). This book is unique in that it explains so much of what I found missing in other books. At the time I read this book my oldest child was two years old and I planned to homeschool but still had a sense of vagueness about things such as: how much time do they actually spend teaching their child, or how much time the child works with a curriculum on their own. I wondered how many people use outside structured classes or how they actually manage to keep their house clean and how mom can serve up three meals per day? Being a fan of the reality TV shows and biographical books, I like to see how people live and how they interact. I am curious about not only what a family chooses to do, but why, and how it is working out. I enjoyed the book because of the detail. I liked reading about why the family chose to homeschool and to what extent are they enjoying the experience. I also appreciated the comments about different teaching methods, books, and curriculum and which works for various children and why. As I read these it seemed to me that many of the families discussed religion a lot. I went back and counted and found that is was a 50/50 split: half mention religion as being a daily part of their life and for some, the reason they homeschool, and the other half never mention it. Most of the families' custom design their curriculum by choosing various curricula or by using non-textbook books. Some unschool and some use a school-in-a-box. Some things I learned from reading this book was that there is no one right way to learn, no one right way to homeschool, and that flexibility is key. I also learned what I don't want to do as we homeschool (such as setting an alarm clock to wake up before my/our bodies are ready and to use a structured time schedule). I saw that some families self-imposed scheduling of formal learning really stressed them out, giving them a sense of despair if they didn't keep to their planned schedule. I also gleaned insight about how some families with four or more children actually live and homeschool: something that has always amazed me! I think the author did a great job trying to capture a true day in the life of these families. It is clear she tried to represent religious homeschoolers, unschoolers, eclectic homeschoolers, etc. The number of children per family ranges from one to many. The role of the father is always mentioned. The location of the residences ranges from city to suburban to rural. This was great fun to read and I did appreciate the details! The book also has a smallish font and little space in the margins: it is packed full! This book made me realize that although we may use the same books or curriculum, or may be unschooling, there is still no one way that each family moves through their day. There is a sequel to this book that contains new families stories and a five-year follow up on some of the families featured in this book. It is called "Homeschool Open House" and is very similar to this book but is longer in page length and in the number of families represented.
Rating:
Summary: No other book like it!
Review: This is my very favorite homeschooling book out there. When she wrote this book she filled a need! Lots of homeschooling books give you generalized info but what you really want to know is what is it REALLY like? Theories etc. etc.....but come on....what do they REALLY do all day????? Am I normal? Am I doing it wrong? From the time they wake up until they go to sleep how do they do it? This book gives in almost unreal detail front to finish "a day in the life" of homeschoolers. A book similar to this is called "Homeschooler's Success Stories" and it does not give even 1/6 of the same type of examples. This book gives quadruple the amount of examples and it is not about famous people. It is about REAL people. I love this book. I never tire of it. I put it down and pick it up again. When you start to feel like you're not doing enough and you're not doing it right pick up that book! I can't say enough about it!!! This book made me realize I could homeschool my daughters.
Rating:
Summary: not an overview but a homeschooling microsopic exam
Review: Though the premise of the book is fascinating for those interested in learning what a day of homeschooling might be like, the incredible detail becomes just too much to get through. Though I'm interested in knowing example morning schedules from real families, I don't need to know what they ate for breakfast. The minutia is overwhelming. If you read this, you will likely have better luck skipping the first family chapter. It is the author/editor's and therefore the most detailed and cumbersome. Also, note that most of the examples are from families who unschool, teach by unit, or have other nontraditional, "loose" approaches to homeschooling. If you want to know about families who teach with a structured curriculum, teach a classical education, etc., this will not be too helpful. There are a couple of examples, but that's it. If you enjoy reading diaries and really getting "into" people's lives, you will likely enjoy this book. If you're looking for a description of some "typical" homeschooling days, you'll likely get more than you bargained for. I think you could get MORE information from other sources with LESS reading time.
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