July 22, 2026 – Is it Hard to Homeschool? How Do I Start?

Mercy Every Minute

Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor

The Cost of Not Homeschooling

Our family began homeschooling after seeing the cost of not doing so—we saw children losing innocence, joy, and zest for life. Look at our society today, especially the youth. We raised these generations to be exactly who and what they are. We can just look around and see the cost of not bringing this generation home for discipleship. Scripture is clear: God gives parents—not institutions—the responsibility to teach and train their children.

Jesus told us to count the cost. Two builders may construct the same house, but only one stands because it is built on the right foundation of obedience. When we hand our children to ungodly systems, the cost is contamination. Jesus warned that salt can lose its saltiness. Children placed daily in ungodly environments absorb ungodly philosophies. Introducing gender ideology and promoting views hostile to Biblical teaching is the norm. Schools even transition children without parental consent. Isaiah warned of those who call evil good. We see the results: innocence lost, joy dimmed, and salt trampled.

The cost is indoctrination. Public education is built on humanism and hedonism—tolerating everything except Christ. Scripture tells us not to learn the way of the heathen. Yet we send our children to be trained in it and wonder why they lose faith.

The cost is loss of faith. Studies show 88% of Christian children in public schools leave the faith by college years. In contrast, less than 10% of homeschooled students do.

The cost is loss of Godly generations. It takes only one generation to lose the next. This is why Psalm 78 commands parents to teach their children about the Lord so they can teach their children, and their children after them.

The cost is immersion in vain philosophies, isolation in the wrong direction, and peer influence that destroys rather than builds. 

The rewards of homeschooling. Homeschooling offers freedom—freedom from fear, pressure, bullying, ungodly teaching—and freedom to grow, delight, create, and walk with God.

Discipleship belongs to parents and so starts at home. We build foundations at home so our children are not swayed from the simplicity found in Christ.

The cost of losing a generation is too great. The reward of a Godly legacy is worth it all.

~Deborah

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Adam and Dianne Riveiro

Homeschooling? Yes, You Can!

I want to be careful here, because I don’t want to demean those who have education degrees. After all, my wife is one of them! But before you start homeschooling, you need to settle this issue in your mind and heart first:

You have all the qualifications you need to homeschool. You know your children better than anyone else on the planet.

Understand, I’m not saying that the homeschool mom and dad should revel in ignorance. You should learn all you can about the subjects you teach, the curriculum you use, and the teaching methods you employ. But, if you’re hesitating to start homeschooling because you don’t think you have the ability to teach your children, you do! Get to know other homeschool families, get involved in local homeschool groups, attend conventions, and (most importantly) get on your knees in prayer. 

You may not have a degree in education, but nobody knows your child better than you. That’s the most important credential you’ll ever need.

-Adam

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About the author

Pastor Adam and Dianne Riveiro live in Easton, Massachusetts, where Adam serves as the pastor of Liberty Baptist Church. Together, they’ve authored several books, including their newest book Ministering to YOUR Children with Special Needs, published by Ready Scribe Publications. Parents to four amazing kids—Bethany, Kaylee, AJ, and Peyton—the Riveiros are deeply committed to helping special needs families discover joy and contentment through Christ.

My Teaching Library – Unlock unlimited award-winning learning with an All-Access membership! Save and gain instant, unlimited access to our massive PreK-12 library. Enjoy full curriculums, unit studies, and all future new materials and updates. One membership covers your entire family! MyTeachingLibrary.com – A Better Way to Teach!

Most parents can agree that raising children is hard, but parenting becomes far easier when you are the primary influence in your child’s life and can disciple them without competing ideologies. Homeschooling may seem difficult, yet you already know your children better than anyone else. The time you spend with them deepens your relationship and gives you the greatest opportunity to disciple them toward Christ while providing a high‑quality education.

About the author

Pursuing her calling to help parents enjoy the responsibility of educating their children, Steph works with clients in the home education industry and helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses from home. She and her family are perfectly placed in the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada. She loves being a homebody and building up her permaculture property. www.CreatingWorkandPlay.com

Shanxi Omoniyi

How to Ease into Homeschooling to Lessen the Overwhelm

Parents considering homeschooling often miss a critical truth—they are, and have always been, their child’s first teachers. Homeschooling simply involves taking back the responsibility “farmed out” or delegated to public schools in the 1830s. From a historical perspective, public school is the experiment and homeschool is the norm for education!

Knowing this can help you ease into the homeschool journey since the first one to three years are typically the hardest. Just like early parenthood, you’re adjusting to different paradigm shifts, schedules, and lifestyles (though hopefully it doesn’t have to mean waking throughout the night to a crying baby!). The changes didn’t happen in a day, but gradually over weeks, months, maybe even years. 

Homeschooling, for me, was a similar experience. My first year officially homeschooling preschool was a whirlwind of juggling multiple teaching methods, resources, etc. while still managing a household and caring for a one-year-old (who loved to join our class activities uninvited!). 

However, I primarily learned as I did it. This included my failures—like the time I leaned heavily into teaching by flashcards, only to discover my preschooler learned primarily by listening. Those cards disappeared in a flash!

You can read an infinite number of articles on “how to start homeschooling.” Researching your local homeschool laws can be a great place to begin. But ultimately, you will learn as you do it, which sounds scary at first, but provides so much freedom and flexibility in the long term.

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About the author

Shanxi Omoniyi is Midwest Parent Educators’ (MPE’s) online content director. A homeschool alumna who graduated with MPE, she now oversees the website and other online accounts, social media, and email marketing. She also directs her own digital marketing business. She is very grateful to have been homeschooled and now homeschools her own children!

If this summer is closing in on your first year of homeschooling, congratulations! You are embarking on an experience as a family that will shape your children’s character and build community you never knew was possible. Although homeschooling is home-centered, it doesn’t mean you are alone to figure it out. SchoolhouseTeachers.com has been helping homeschoolers for years, giving resources and tips to support you while continuing to provide variety that encourages you to explore what works best for your unique family. Along with the hundreds of courses that allow you to pick and choose according to individual needs and interests of your students, SchoolhouseTeachers.com has compiled School Boxes that give you a full year of curricula by grade level to ease decision fatigue. If you’re interested in some teacher training before you start the school year, be sure to check out the Growing in Homeschool Confidence course, included in your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership!