Homeschooling for Excellence

by David Colfax, Micki Colfax

Role models for a generation of homeschoolers, David and Micki Colfax are teachers turned ranchers who taught their four sons at home in the 1970s and '80s and schooled three of them into Harvard. Isolation on their northern California homestead forced them into the experience, but this resourceful family eventually discovered all kinds of advantages to home education. Like a modern-day Little House on the Prairie, the Colfax children learned about geometry while constructing outbuildings on their ranch, explored aspects of chemistry and biology as they improved their livestock and garden, and generally discovered the value of self-reliance as they went about life without TV or neighbors. Their world is described in clear, warm words that illustrate the fondness these parents and children possess for each other. Family photos grouped throughout the book show the boys working and learning together.

The Colfaxes don't purport to be experts; they don't prescribe a formula for their success. Rather, their experience is described as a trial-and-error effort, with some of their mistakes offered up as lessons for others. The value of critically examining textbooks in advance, for instance, is learned after one son falls behind in algebra using a schoolbook that touts "new math" principles. The Colfaxes' philosophy is that every child is gifted. Parents don't need to be certified teachers to teach them (although it does ward off doubters). But, despite the contention of some homeschoolers, the Colfaxes do caution that teaching at home requires much time and money--and they don't advise it for single parents or most working women. Any parent interested in connecting with his or her child, however, will find the Colfax take on life an enjoyable and enlightening read. The couple closes the book with an appendix of suggested references for building a family library and a delightful list of their children's favorite books. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Parenting, Inspirational, Homeschool

142 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1988

Reviews

[Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my daughter was in the third grade at the third school in which she had been enrolled, I confronted the teacher about my daughter's grades which all were quite average. My daughter has a genius IQ, is a member of Mensa and I knew she was quite bright then. The teacher told me, "if you think you can do a better job teaching, then do it!" Well, I did! The problem was that I never knew anyone who had or was teaching their kids at home! After a lot of trial and error, I discovered Homeschooling for Excellence by the Colfaxes. To say it completely altered our lives is an understatement. I realized that I did not want to just bring school to our home, but rather to make learning interesting and incorporative throughout our lives - to excel at learning. That is what this books helps you do. Learning, for the Colfax family, was all encompassing. Every chore, every game, every thing that the family did together was a lesson, not to the point that the kids were inundated with "school," but to the point that life was all about learning and experiencing new things. Our motto became, "Home, where the learning never ends." All three of my kids were homeschooled, beginning with my daughter. They all three are incredibly successful today as adults. Excellence - it's a good thing.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, why have I not reviewed this book yet?! This book inspired me and gave me the energy to home-educate our two children right up to university. The title is very misleading - I read somewhere that the publishers insisted on it. These children were not hot-housed in any way. David and Micki covered the basics - English and Maths, up to the teens. The rest of their time was spend following the children's curiosity and finding books and resources even though their home was quite remote. Despite their very relaxed approach, or likely because of that, when the time came for the boys to do exams they did surprisingly well. David and Micki were in social sciences and English literature but their oldest two were most interested in science and archaeology. Their third son went into law and their youngest into teaching special education. Three of them went to Harvard.
My main takeaway from this book was to trust and give your children responsibility. They believed in their boys and asked their advice in making big life-changing decisions from an early age. They recognised how different each child was. Everything they did was through listening to the children rather than teaching. Later on I was reading Montaigne on the topic of education and he says exactly this. Education is about careful listening to the pupil.
It's a lovely read too - I enjoyed their farm life in the mountains. It gave me the confidence that we could continue home-educating right up to university and we did. Our daughter is in the middle of her Mathematics PhD and our son is doing his master's in Chemistry - both subjects that everyone told us we couldn't possibly teach at home. Especially given that I have a Fine Art degree.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart David and Micki, if you ever read this, you kept me sane all those years - and my son still loves The Cappyboppy.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book, written in 1897, that I read before each school year started for several years. Unlike the Colfax family, we did not live on a self-sustaining farm, use the same curriculum, or send all our children to Harvard, but I think the inspiration for me was to see how children do love to learn when given lots of books, the proper learning tools (maps, science equipment, etc.) and time to pursue their own interests. I'd forgotten that their early years on the farm when their oldest son was in early elementary years were so busy they did little formal work. BUT when he began reading at nine, he soon progressed to adult books. They point is made that early reading is not an indicator of long-term academic achievement. He loves authors that I've come to love: Bill Peet, Dr. Seuss, David Macauley. It was good to review resons for homeschooling: (1) control over content, methods, timing, and personel (2) more efficient (3) encourages autonomy (4) promotes creativity.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. By not going into too much depth, this book leaves other homeschooling families free to make their own decisions instead of trying to persuade them to subscribe to one particular approach.

[Cheryl Floyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book on home education. This couple took 4 different children and raised them without curriculum at a time when homeschooling was virtually unheard of, and had not virtual reality to assist!

They made learning real, active, and internal. All their children qualified for and attend top 10 universities like Harvard! And Harvard was lucky to have them.

Micki and David explain that their degrees made them in now way feel they were equipped to educate their children, it only kept them legal in California. They learned as they went, and found that parenting was their most potent ally.

I love this book for encouraging anyone that they too can raise their children - that is after all simply what "education" is in life.

[Tana Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of valuable information for people new to homeschooling. The one major drawback is the date it was written. Many of the areas have changed due to technology.

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated, but such valuable information about how homeschooling can look different then school and why! I love their lean toward literature over textbooks, interest led learning over test focused school and less all in one curriculum and encouraging parents to build a curriculum for their child instead!

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this book didn't change my life. And it's dated. But it did remind me of principles from my Early Childhood Education:
1. that the best learning is natural; encouraged, even scaffolded, but not forced
2. that early achievement (early reading, etc.) does not predict future success/achievement (as evidenced by authors' sons attending Ivy League schools)
3. that meaningful experiences are the best for building lifelong literacy and a love for reading and learning (journal keeping, storytelling, reading aloud and often).

My epiphanies included the idea that my little one should start keeping his own journal even if only narrated and that I should be doing the same thing, although not for the reasons they put forth.

Will we homeschool? The jury's still out.

And I was slightly affronted by the adjective "lowly" used to describe teaching programs/Colleges of Education. Ahem!

[Alcina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book really useful in conjunction with the Moore book. They did invest in expensive educational materials that are not an option for me, but I feel encouraged and inspired after reading about thier journey, their insights and tips. Although from the late 80's, I don't find this book outdated.

[Rebekah]

Recommended by Elisabeth Elliot.

[Aisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice and short. Very basic. Outdated now except to lay down the foundation - and some of the very real problems - with the construct of industrialized education. Really makes the case for individualized learning they homeschooling and supporting your child’s natural creativity and interests. Of course - what we have now that we didn’t have in the 70’s and 80’s are SCREENS - and I feel that has taken the drive and motivation from a generation of kids...
They do quote Postman’s work Amusing Ourselves to Death though.
Very interesting/cool to look up the Coffman’s sons now and their education and accomplishments. The parents were quoted in another article I found completely against homeschooling for religious reasons. They were against that philosophy of separating children from society etc. I think their entire personal philosophy was devoid from any religious adherence.
Interestingly, they didn’t utilize many prepackaged texts or homeschool curriculum sources.

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came out in 1988...a time when homeschooling was counter cultural enough to be viewed with some misgivings and even scorn.

The Colfax family reminds me of the Robinson family. Both homestead loving and off-the-grid types. I admire their work ethic and their belief in sticking to the essentials—the 3 R’s. Their formula for self education works, as evidenced by the Ivy League education and one of the boys even sporting a Harvard jacket on the book cover.

I would have liked more specific examples of how they motivated their kids to read hefty literature, or how they maintained a science lab. Science was not ideal in my own home education, I don’t want to make the same mistakes going forward with my own kids in that department.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite being written in 1988, this has held up remarkably well. The authors present their case for homeschooling without heavy-handed political or religious ideologies, but simply acknowledge that there are a wide variety of reasons a family may choose to educate their children at home. Rather than presenting a didactic how-to methodology or recommended curriculum, they then focus on the philosophies and strategies that did and didn't work as they trial-and-error'ed their way through their own experiences homeschooling 4 children. I walked away from this book more confident in my ability to guide my child's education no matter what school choice we end up making and will keep this book around to share with other parents pondering their child's education options.

[Jonathan Mckay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read on a day where I'm looking for anything to distract me from being sick. Useful more for the tips than for the thesis. Surprisingly little content on day to day teaching philosophy, mostly notes on mid-80's curriculum. Yet in a world where the perils of technology can outweigh the benefits, much of this remains relevant into the modern day.

Attributes a lot of malice to modern education that is unwarranted, my main takeaway is that the Colfax family were able to benefit from a robust library, and perhaps most importantly, parent pickiness about the materials that they used to teach their kids with. Then a little bit of kids learning how to do things on their own and the Colfax family is off to the races.

[Kasey Dietrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could this book have been more information dense or more helpful? Yes, definitely, but this gave me some good ideas and you can tell by how the author writes that they care about their kids, which is a win in my book. Now I know that putting together a homeschooling textbook list is pretty helpful. Cool.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to read

Very informative with a lot of good advice. The books recommended are outdated (especially the science books) since they were published in the 80s.
The only thing I didn't like was the first few chapters about public schools and their flaws.

[Melanie Bisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this right after John Holt’s ‘Teach Your Own’, so there were many parallels. The relevance was a little lost since conceptually it did not differ and it is mostly outdated in materials. The methodology and approach was well liked.

[Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad the book made me realize that one could rise above the (harmful) pressures school exerts on us, and that one has the ability to grow in intellect even when the school situation tries to stifle our intelligence.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok so this is kind of like reading a time capsule... but it is amazing and kind of unnerving how much their expert and pointed critiques of US education policy rings true.

[Michelle Barkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated technology wise, but otherwise very well presented.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding and fascinating story! Incredible results...all because the parents stayed connected with their kids, taught them critical thinking, and to take ownership of their own education.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Notes::
Reference section is outdated but the philosophy of the book is timeless

[salma for #freepalestine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical, explicit action items, and purposeful. Will need to go back to it

[Yasmeen Khalid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although slightly outdated for 2023, some gems of advice in here 💪

[Leigh Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was published in the 1980s but it may be the best book I’ve read on homeschooling. All homeschool families should read this one.

[Kim Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ideas for nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit of kids through a home business. Not my thing, but gave me many ideas. Very Waldorf in its hands-on approach and learning by doing.

[JD · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main redeeming quality of the book is that it is well written in terms of grammar and thought flow. But it is extremely dry and I felt like I was being lectured by a holier than thou hippie, there was absolutely no humor or personality in this book. The book also has some good appendices. Though they are a bit dated, they still give one a lot of information and a place to start on your search for more up to date information.

The Colfax’s obviously have very talented children and their style of homeschooling worked for them. But unschooling is not a style that I really like. And due to that, some of their book recommendations were not good recommendations for my family. But they may work well for families that are interested in unschooling.

Also, the book spent a lot of time on simply tearing down the public school system. While I agree that public schools are not working, I was not looking for a book to bash them. But if you are looking for a book that discusses what exactly is wrong in the public schools of the United States, this book has very well thought out arguments.

[NoBeatenPath · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the Colfaxs' memoir 'Hard Times in Paradise' I was interested in this book, and wanted to read about their 'plan' for organising your child's home education; especially considering they admitted in their memoir they didn't really have a plan.
This is a book very much of its time - most of the resources are out of date, and it even talks about giving your child a typewriter (though it mentions this may become redundant as word processors become more common). It was published before the internet was known to the general public, so many of the book recommendations are for references which you could probably get from the internet, or at the very least there are newer books available.
That said, I am sure it was a great book in its time, and at the very least there are a few sections which are more on the philosophy behind how they taught their boys, and that is pretty interesting.

[Trace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hoped to read a more personal glimpse into the Colfax family's homeschool lifestyle. And the few glimpses that the reader is allowed are all very surface-level, very brief ones. It left me feeling most unsatisfied. I felt like there was much more opinion being expressed about the benefits of homeschooling vs traditional schooling. Perhaps this is because back when this book was first published, homeschooling was more of a novelty then it is today. In any case, I already know why I homeschool, I didn't need to read more reasons why homeschooling is wonderful. I was looking to read more about the daily lives of the Colfax family - as it still stuns me that all of their sons were accepted into Ivy League schools through what is alleged to be an unschoolish approach. This book did NOT corroborate that for me. I'm still a little skeptical... :)

[Starbaby · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are honeschooling, considering homeschooling or are up against relatives or friends that think homeschooling will "ruin your children", this is the one book you should read. Or, give them to read. The Colfax's boys were unschooled (like we did, and if you're up against that battle, well, another reason to get the book!) and three of the four graduated from Ivy League universities. Yale and Harvard, if I remember correctly. It's been many years since I read this, but it is indeed a wonderful book and a great read. Buy it or search your library for it.