The Hands-on Dad - Softcover

Boyer, Rick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0970877021 ISBN 13: 9780970877024

Publisher: The Learning Parent, 1997

Synopsis

In The Hands-on Dad, Rick shares seven Biblical functions for the father and shows how they apply in home education. These important and practical insights can set both Mom and Dad free to be their best for their children.

About this title

About the Author

Rick and his wife Marilyn are pioneers of the home education movement, having begun teaching in 1980. They are the parents of fourteen children, all of whom have been educated at home. Five of those children have graduated high school at home, one is a college graduate, and one son is married. Rick's down-to -earth approach and homespun humor have led some to call him the Will Rogers of the homeschool movement.

From the Back Cover

What's a father to do? That's the question being asked by dads and moms alike in today's home education movement. Some look at Dad as a substitute teacher; if he can't be in the 'classroom' then he's out of the loop. In other families, Dad is the school janitor,cleaning and doing laundry so Mom can have more time with the children. Rick Boyer, father of thirteen home-taught children, says that neither of these stereotypes is correct. In The Hands-on Dad, Rick shares seven Biblical functions of the father and shows how they apply to home education. These important and practical insights can set both Mom and Dar free to be their best for their children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Hi,guy. So you've taken the first step and opened this book to see what's inside. Sorry I can't address you more personally, but of course you're reading this long after I wrote it and so I'm at a disadvantage. I don't know if you're perusing the book at a booth in a home education convention or if it came to you in response to an order you placed-or more likely , your wife placed-from a catalog.Or whatever. No matter. Whatever the reason, you're reading this, whether or not you and I have ever met, we have a lot in common. That's what I'm counting on and in hopes it will help me to offer you whaever information and encouragement I can as you do your job as a dad.

I also don't know whether you're already home educating or just considering it as a possibility for the future. I wish I did, as that would make it easier to address your situation more precisely. But we'll get by.

If we haven't met, my name is Rick Boyer and I'm a dad,too. More specifically, I'm the dad of children who are taught at home. I've been a father for twenty-three years and a home educating father for seventeen of those years. I love my wife and my kids, as you do yours. So, I've tried to be a good father, paying attention to what works and what doesn't in family life, reading some helpful books,learning from wiser men and from my own mistakes. My wife has been a great teacher,too. Nobody knows better what qualities are needed in a man than a woman.

In the process of learning to be a father, I've had the advantage of a wide variety of experiences due to the fact that I have a wide variety of children. My wife,Marilyn and I have thirteen children, eleven of whom still live in our home , one of whom is out on his own,and one of whom is now in heaven following a struggle with leukemia. My life hasn't always been easy, but it's been educational.

But I say all that to say I know where you're coming from , not to say that I now have all the answers. Quite the contrary. And I hasten to admit it, because if you're like me you recoil in horror whenever you realize you're reading something written by a Mr. Perfect. You know the type. He never gets frustrated, spends most of his time reading the Scriptures,has a spotless thought life. His wife never raises her voice above four decibels, feeds the family barley green and granola,and they love it. The children obey impeccably every time; they never fight among themselves. The baby's soiled diapers do not stink.

I can't relate to a guy like that. Sure, I'd like to be a perfect husband and dad, but that's just not me. I'm a plain guy with a sin nature and, yes,just once every eon or two I do fumble the ball.

But, we have had a good experience with home education. That's because you don't have to be perfect parents to do so. If you're considering home teaching your children but you're afraid that you have to be a Superdad to get the results you want, forget it. You'll never be perfect, but neither will the rest of us, including those who have been at it for a long time. We all have our share of shortcomings, but the system works anyway. You don't have to be Superdad.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Learning Parent
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0970877021
• ISBN 13: 9780970877024
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 155