Rating: 
Summary: Mis-Named, But Still Interesting!
Review: This book isn't really about "A Mom Like Me", nor is it really about homeschooling. The author is an apparently wealthy mother of 10 homeschooled children. [I say apparently wealthy because her husband is a well known lawyer and she employs a weekly housecleaner, yard person, and mother's helpers - not something most of our budgets will cover]. The book also has really very little to do with homeschooling - extremely little practical advice and only a couple of the chapters are even about homeschooling. There IS a chapter on the religious beliefs that led this family to homeschool, and a very general, superficial [and not so useful] chapter on "homeschooling a housefull". Instead, this book is a very personal story of the author's life, her faith journey, and her religious beliefs. She is strongly in favor of homeschooling, which one would expect, but she is also very strongly in favor of some other ideas - such as foregoing all family planning [including natural family planning] and "letting the Lord determine her family size" as well as the idea of the wife submitting to the husband. The book includes a very detailed and personal story of her reproductive history, as well as how she and her husband came to their beliefs. She includes very appropriate scriptural references for everything she suggests and puts forth very intelligent arguments. While this book was not at all what I expected, I did find it interesting, easy to read, and compelling. I may not agree with all of the author's viewpoints, but I can certainly see how she arrived at them and I can follow her spiritual logic. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. There was a slight shadow of arrogance running throughout the book that was a little annoying. It was sort of a sense of "this is how *I* do things and my way is the right way". Sometimes it felt a little like the author was saying "see how wonderful I am!" I didn't agree with all of her suggestions or the way her family handled everything, but I still found the book very interesting and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: General encouragement with a challange
Review: This book was given to me by a home-schooling mom. I have since read it and am giving it to a young mom considering home-schooling. Though not full of detailed information about day to day function of a large home-school family, this book does address several basic questions about the "why" of families and home-schooling.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved the author, wanted to hear more from her
Review: This book was very well written and an unexpected surprise. We chose it as a book to read in our Homeschool Moms Book Club. I was not anticipating a great read but looked forward to wisdom from an experienced mother. This book kept me reading from the beginning. It is sound and scripturally based. As homeschoolers. we all struggle at times, but the benefits far out weigh the difficulties. Vickie Farris (via Jayme) does an excellent job relating a testimony of her life to us as if we were both sitting in my kitchen over a cup of tea. Much of the book was also dedicated to family planning and a wife's role with her husband. Both of these areas were pertinent to my life. I was encouraged to read the section on miscarriage after going through a miscarriage and stillbirth both after feeling led by God to have more children. It was encouraging to see that I am not in control and that I am not alone. This book is not heavy on ideas for curriculum or organization but is helpful at the same time. I agree that it may have been a discouragement also as areas of cleaning and managing children are resolved by hired help. These areas are a challenge but also provide a great reward with the help of God not a nanny. It seems to defeat the purpose and whole idea of a Homeschooling mom. While I struggled with the aspects of hired help, I also realized while reading that all mothers have the abilities to make choices and we are not all going to be from the same cookie cutter. In spite of the differences, I found this book to be an encouragement to glorify God with my choices and attitudes in my home. It has a special spot on my bookshelf.
Rating: 
Summary: A Well Written Unexpected Surprise
Review: This book was very well written and an unexpected surprise. We chose it as a book to read in our Homeschool Moms Book Club. I was not anticipating a great read but looked forward to wisdom from an experienced mother. This book kept me reading from the beginning. It is sound and scripturally based. As homeschoolers. we all struggle at times, but the benefits far out weigh the difficulties. Vickie Farris (via Jayme) does an excellent job relating a testimony of her life to us as if we were both sitting in my kitchen over a cup of tea. Much of the book was also dedicated to family planning and a wife's role with her husband. Both of these areas were pertinent to my life. I was encouraged to read the section on miscarriage after going through a miscarriage and stillbirth both after feeling led by God to have more children. It was encouraging to see that I am not in control and that I am not alone. This book is not heavy on ideas for curriculum or organization but is helpful at the same time. I agree that it may have been a discouragement also as areas of cleaning and managing children are resolved by hired help. These areas are a challenge but also provide a great reward with the help of God not a nanny. It seems to defeat the purpose and whole idea of a Homeschooling mom. While I struggled with the aspects of hired help, I also realized while reading that all mothers have the abilities to make choices and we are not all going to be from the same cookie cutter. In spite of the differences, I found this book to be an encouragement to glorify God with my choices and attitudes in my home. It has a special spot on my bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: I Expected More
Review: While an enjoyable read, I found this book to be not as focused on the home schooling aspects of the Farris household as it was on their family concerns. For example, a significant part of the book deals with their decision not to use artificial birth control (50 pages) and giving priority to God and your husband (another 50 pages). If you are home schooling (or thinking about it) for reasons other than a biblical directive you perceive, this book may not offer you as much as you'd hoped.
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