A helpful and interesting read. I am an educator in a primary school and am a big advocate of state primary schools. It really angers me when people (usually rich people) send their child to a private school because it suggests that primary state schools are not good enough.
I think that's why I found this book so interesting. It really gave a different perspective and made me think how hard it must be for parents to make a decision. It really helped me to see other points of view and although I still think all children should attend state primaries I can certainly see the pros and cons to the different options.
It's a well written book with lots of anecdotes about the Author's own life.

So glad I found this book during our decision making process about our kids' school for next year. It is a great look at the positives and negatives of 3 different school choices, Private Christian school, Home school, or Public school. I was pleased that this book really took a fair look at schooling options and did not advise one above the others. Rather, the author emphasized the importance of understanding your own child's personality and learning style and that no one way fits each child or family. The discussion of fear based decision making resounded with my own concerns and thoughts. The outside reading at the end of each chapter allows for more research as you study your children and figure out what would suit them best.

As a Christian family we've strongly considered the importance of our children's education. As it came time to decide on our oldest child we researched and found that the local public elementary school was wonderfully suited to meet the needs of our gifted students, and for years we've chosen to send them there instead of homeschooling or private school. We've been involved in the school as volunteers and also finding supplemental educational activities at home. The public school does bring along with it many 'opportunities' to discuss topics that you may not have brought up in conversation with them, it forces our parenting to stretch to meet the real world as our kids encounter situations we would not normally deal with. As our oldest entered middle school it was time to make more decisions and she was accepted to a highly desired public magnet school through an application process (we thought it was crazy she was having to write an application essay at 11 years old!). It's been a great fit, but lately she's been talking about wanting to do home school. When our 2nd child did not get accepted to same school we were faced with the prospect of three kids in three schools and now we are considering our options for next year.

We've always said that each year we'd evaluate the kids schooling choices but we've been very happy with public school. Right now we are leaning towards a blend of home school and public school next year. In our state we have a Virtual Public school that offers online classes. I would have loved to see more information on this kind of home schooling in the book but I realize it's not available everywhere. With this option we are able to choose what classes they take online with local teachers and when they work on them and it is offered free through our state. We also have the option to send our children to the public school nearby for special classes like Band for a period or two.

Thanks for the opportunity to review this book. I will recommend it to other friends considering school choices.