5 Reasons You May Not Be The Right Person to Teach A Subject to Your Kids

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As a homeschooling parent, you’re in charge of teaching everything to your kids, right? Not necessarily. Here are five situations where it might be best for you to back off from teaching a certain subject to one of your children. 

1. It is a subject you struggle to understand.

As a homeschooling parent, you may discover that a subject you found difficult in school is suddenly easier to understand as you’re teaching it to your own kids. Sometimes a different explanation and a few years of experience can help you to see the subject with new eyes. It’s great when this happens, but it’s not always the case.  

Sometimes your second go round with a subject confirms that the subject still isn’t a strength of yours. It’s completely okay for your kids to see that even a parent struggles with certain courses, but for the sake of your children’s education in the actual topic, it might be best to pass it off to someone else.

2. The subject comes naturally to you.

You’re talented at writing or music or math? Great! But it does not automatically mean you will be good at teaching it to someone else. In order to teach, you have to be able to explain the intricacies of how something works. For folks to which a skill or subject comes naturally, that can sometimes be difficult.

  • If the ins and outs of algebra are totally obvious to you, it can be frustrating when other people don’t understand.
  • If playing a musical instrument came naturally to you and you’ve never had to think through the steps of how to do it, you might be clueless about how explain those steps to someone else.

If your kids aren’t grasping something you find to be second nature, consider that an explanation from another expert might be easier for them to understand.

5 Reasons You are Not the Right Person to Teach That Subject to Your Kids

3. It somehow negatively affects your relationship.

Everyone has bad days. But if every announcement of “It’s time for math!” ends with tears and the slamming of doors from both you and the kids, there is something deeper going on. No school subject is worth sacrificing a family relationship. If you’re feeling long term frustration, animosity, or a desire to throw in the towel, it might be best for everyone involved if someone else or a computer program takes over teaching the subject in question.

4. You know someone else who is really good at teaching.

It’s important for our homeschooled kids to learn from someone other than mom—especially as they get older. Is your spouse better at teaching a certain skill? Is there an older sibling who can explain a topic? Do you have a friend or extended family member who can step in to offer their expertise on a subject? Don’t forget to make use of local co-ops, computer curriculum, or online courses as a way for your kids to learn from others.

5. It’s time for your kids to be independent.

There comes a point when it’s time for us to loosen our grip on the reins of our children’s education. Maybe your issue is not that your child needs a different adult to teach them something. Maybe it’s that they need more independent, self-guided learning. Some kids need a push to be independent; other kids are pushing their parents away in order to gain more independence! Are there subjects in your homeschool that you could give up teaching and hand over to your kids instead?

There is nothing in any homeschool manual that states mom must be in charge of teaching all subjects to her children. When situations call for other teachers, embrace that you have the freedom to take advantage of what others can offer.  

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