Most of us have said at one time "Why doesn't someone write a book about _______ ?" I've said that about homeschooling and parenting. Having read dozens of books on parenting and homeschooling and experiencing fatherhood first hand for 14+ years, I felt there was still a need for a book that better combined the principles of parenting with practical ideas that worked. The book would reflect parenting as a whole, but necessarily focus heavily on discipleship and education. All with strong biblical emphasis and a winsome readable style. Having begun to wonder if perhaps I should try to write such a book, I am elated to find that the book is already available! And it's been out for over 12 years! How could I have missed this for so long? I was not familiar with the authors and even now if you Google for "homeschooling", their site is not in the top 100 results. I'm glad this finally crossed my radar.
The book is Home Educating With Confidence by Rick and Marilyn Boyer. The Boyers speak at various conferences, but apparently not in our area recently. This book has several chapters which form the basis for several other books. It appears the content from the other books are condensed into chapters (on Spiritual Training, Father's Role, Socialization) and combined with other subjects to produce this book as a great overview of parenting, discipleship, and home education. The book is really about parenting and I recommend it for all parents. I'd love to see every new mom and dad get a copy of this and re-read it every couple years as their children go through the phases of early childhood, beginning school, later childhood, the teens, career/college planning, and courtship/marriage preparation. The book covers everything, yet is a quick read.
The chapter on the father's role form the basis for The Hands-On Dad by Rick Boyer. All dads should read this and take it to heart. It's much more than a homeschooling book.