Tips and Encouragement for Your New Role as a Homeschool Teacher
- rstinson10
- Sep 11
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 8
Homeschooling is a different world.
We totally get it: as a new homeschool parent, you might be struggling with the confidence of being your child's teacher. Maybe you don't think you are qualified or you struggled in school as a child yourself or you are just nervous about this change. We hope after reading this post that you will be empowered with more confidence in your role as your child's homeschool teacher.
We are veteran homeschoolers. We invite you to browse our website for more articles about navigating the homeschool world, encouragement when making friends, limiting screen time for your family and more. Our website is not monetized. Like our page if you like this page.
Teachers in the Public School System
You might be thinking that you are not as "qualified" to teach your child as the teachers in the public school system (or at a private school).
This is wrong: here's why.
Some public school teachers are not qualified to teach.
According the National Center on teacher quality, "Many states have lowered (or removed entirely) academic requirements for entry into teacher preparation requirements. Only 15 states now require candidates to pass a basic skills test for admission, down from 25 in 2015. And while many states impose a minimum GPA, they also set a standard that almost always falls below the average college GPA of 3.0." See link.
In November 2024 a group of five school faculty members were charged for their connection to a school certification testing cheating scandal. People would pay these 5 individuals to take the test for them. At least 200 teachers were falsely certified and at least two of those who paid for the certifications were charged with crimes against children. This has reportedly been going on since 2020. And this just an example of pbulic school teachers falsifying their credentials: think of what has yet to be discovered. See: link
In December 2024, it was reported that New Jersy no longer requires teachers to pass basic math, reading and writing tests for certification. See link
Some teachers are not only bad teachers, they are criminals.
Teachers are making the news almost daily for criminal behaviors, often including crimes against the very children they are entrusted to care for. Daycare teachers, private school teachers and nannies are committing crimes against children. One way we can keep our children safe from predatory adults is to homeschool them. And this trend is not an exception: it occurs regularly in nearly every public school.
Conversely, when you homeschool your children, you can be absolutely certain that your teacher is not a criminal and is not abusing or otherwise harming your child.
As homeschoolers, we get to choose the teachers for our children.
Many homeschool families utilize part time, private education and child care. youtube tutorials, out- school classes, art summer camps, micro-schools etc for example. There is no difference between enrolling your child in piano lessons and hiring a math tutor.
We have better control over who cares for our children to keep them safe from predator adults. We can vet them, call references, perform background checks, read dance school reviews, supervise tutoring sessions and we have freedom of association. If we want to discontinue classes at our child's art school for any reason, we are able to do that.
Not everything needs to be taught.
Some school subjects can be intimating if you are looking at the public school as a guide.
Core subjects like reading, writing, math, science and history should to be a part of your homeschool curriculum. However, you have a lot of freedom in your child's curriculum. For example, If you don't want your child to dissect a frog, you don't need to do this work. Kindergarteners do not need to learn how to read yet. Calculus is only necessary if your child is working toward an engineering career path, and even then you could enroll your teen for a college class or hire a math tutor to help teach that math subject.
On the flip side, the public school is missing some important things in their curriculum. How to budget, cooking skills, how taxes work and preparing for the workplace for example. While the basics are vitial, it is also critical that your child acquire the life skills that they will need. So many teenagers are totally unprepared to enter the world, and are taken advantage of by evil actors. How many of us got a credit card in college from one of those campus credit card stands, and then ended up deeply in debt (after you realized that a 25% interest rate can be devastating to your finances). Similarly, how many of you had to learn the hard way about how to write a resume?
You know your child and know what's best for them.
In a public school setting, there is a schedule to keep up with and your child is one of a hundred (or more students) his teacher has on their roster. As a homeschool parent, you know your child. You know their strengths and struggles, their interests, how well they can write an essay and what they need to work on. The public school system is designed to a fit a distribution of studens and their average capabilities: it is not intended to fit to any specific student's strengths and weaknesses.
Homeschooling is an extension of parenting
You have taught your child to say please and thank you, how to use a fork, taught them to share their toys with their siblings, how to feed your family pet and you have developed a night time routine for their bed time. There is no difference between doing those things and teaching your child how to read and write.
Homeschooling is not sitting at a desk for 5+ hours.
Yes, homeschooling would be very difficult if we sat at desks all day like public schools do. Homeschooling is also completely dissimilar from remote learning. You are not "on", teaching for long hours of the day and in reality, neither are public school teachers. Public schools have movie times, recesses, kids are waiting in lines and teachers are sometimes doing "classroom management" to handle behavior problems etc.
We invite you to read our article "10 ways you may be accidentally homeschooling". Homeschooling is easier than people think, mainly because it is composed of activities you would be doing any way. This article also illustrates what homeschooling might actually look like for many homeschool families.
You would be managing your child's education even if they attended public school.
Managing your child's education is a part of parenting. If your child attended public school, you would be helping your child with homework, helping them study for a test or assignment, proofreading their essay, hiring a math tutor, collecting school supplies for a school project, and making sure your child is completing and turning in their assignments on time. As a homeschool family, you will manage your child's education in a similar way. However, the difference is this: as a homeschool parent, you also get to take advantage of the many benefits we enjoy.
Just because something is difficult does not mean it is the wrong decision.
Think about the process of learning to be a nurse, an electrician, a lawyer, or an engineer. They are jobs that may be considered challenging to learn, perhaps requiring eyars of study. And even when a person begins working, think about what their job might look like; maybe they have a long commute, a challenging boss, rude customers and regulations and licensing to navigate through.
Then think about the benefits a person may enjoy from these kinds of high expertise jobs. They earn a good salary, they are probably very good at their job and there is enjoyment doing what you love and are good at. Maybe they enjoy other benefits like they can make their own schedule or can live in an area closer to family.
When you homeschool you can choose your "hard"
We are fortunate to live in a country with education freedom. We can homeschool, attend public school or attend private school. Each one of those options can be considered "hard" in some degree for various reasons.
Homeschooling is not easier than public school per se: in some ways it is more challenging. However, we do find it to be more peaceful and beneficial than public school. There are no bullies or bad influences. We can sleep in, vacation off season and we can go at our own pace. When you homeschool, you get to choose your "hard"; whereas, when your kids go into the public school system, you get what you get (and don't be upset!). That is, if your child is having trouble with math: that's tough luck if they get bad grade. Or maybe the teacher doesn't like them: too bad, you don't get to choose your child's teacher.
You are not expected to know everything or do everything in your homeschool.
Even public school teachers utilize other resources to teach.
Printable worksheets from the internet, youtube videos, picture books, the text book teachers manual with all the answers, following the curriculum chronologically, watching a documentary etc. are all available to you at sometimes free or almost free costs.
Other tips for homeschool parents
Homeschooling is an unique experience. Immerse yourself with the homeschool community. Make some new homeschool friends for your kids and for yourself and your husband. Go to things. Host things and keep in touch with people off social media.
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17
If you really are struggling, get help. There are plenty of websites, books, youtube channels and other resources available to you that are designed to help homeschool families. Attend a homeschool convention. We have plenty of resources available on our website https://www.homeschoolgateway.org. Hire a nanny. Hire a maid.
Be the village! Our community thrives when we help eachother.
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