Should I Homeschool?

Should I Homeschool?

When most parents imagine homeschooling, their mind goes straight to a kitchen table covered in worksheets and a teacher’s manual open next to a half-drunk cup of coffee. They picture themselves trying to recreate every detail of a traditional school day at home and being completely overwhelmed. But here's the truth: It will not overwhelm you but actually free you.

Real homeschooling isn’t merely “school at home.” It’s a different lifestyle — and in almost every measurable way, a better one.

Homeschooling isn’t about duplicating an institution. It’s about reclaiming your child’s time, their attention, their formation, and the years you don’t get back.

Why Homeschooling Works So Well

Decades of research point to the same conclusion: homeschoolers thrive.

Across nationally normed tests, homeschool students score about 15–30 percentile points higher than public school students. They grow into adults who report higher confidence, greater life satisfaction, and stronger family relationships. They are more likely to volunteer, more likely to vote, and more likely to say they feel connected to their purpose.

When you control the environment, you also protect the childhood that shapes the adult. It isn’t about sheltering; it’s about stewarding.

The Time Math That Changes Everything

If your child attends school outside the home, here’s the math most parents never run:

7 hours a day in school + 1–2 hours of transportation + 1–3 hours of homework, after-school activities, and extracurriculars

That’s 9–12 hours a day under the management, influence, and worldview of someone else.

Multiply that by:

• 5 days a week
• 40 weeks a year
• 13 years of school

And you get tens of thousands of hours in the care of institutions, peers, and systems that do not share your family’s values, priorities, or worldview. Most parents don’t realize that during the core formation years, they’re often getting the leftover minutes — not the primary voice.

Influence Is Not Neutral

Research from Barna and others has shown that the greatest spiritual and ethical shaping happens before age 14.

If parents are not the primary shapers of that time, something else will be.

Schooling outside the home doesn’t just structure education; it structures influence. You can be an excellent parent, but if your child spends most hours of their best years with other people, other people are doing much of the forming.

In today’s world — culturally, ethically, spiritually — it is becoming increasingly difficult to pass down your family’s values without homeschooling. Not impossible, but undeniably harder. Homeschooling restores what most families don’t even realize they’ve lost: presence, proximity, and influence.

So Then… How Do You Actually Homeschool?

The good news: it’s simpler than it looks.

Most parents imagine they need a perfect schedule, a full curriculum plan, certified-teacher energy, and a Pinterest wall of laminated color-coded bins. Not even close.

Here’s what you actually need:

1. A legal covering or compliance path You do have to file with the government to legally homeschool and each state is different. But with Numa, this is easy. Numa handles records, attendance, immunizations, transcripts, support, and all school-level filings so you don’t have to manage any of that alone.

2. A curriculum that matches your child, not the other way around You choose what fits your family’s philosophy: classical, faith-based, flexible for travel, online, books only, hybrid… whatever supports your goals.

3. A days rhythm that is not stressful, but flexible. Here's the truth: some days you are going to get a lot of school done. Other days, you won't. It's just how life rolls. So, knowing this, you can find a right rhythm for your family. Not rigid. Not complicated. Just consistent, peaceful, and purposeful.

4. A willingness to learn alongside your child You don’t need a teaching degree. You need attentiveness, curiosity, and a desire to guide.

Homeschooling is not about being everything to your child. It’s about being present with your child while they learn.

Why Numa Helps Families Start Smoothly

Starting homeschooling can feel overwhelming simply because there’s so much noise online about how to do it “right.”

Numa simplifies everything:

• Help identifying, choosing, and getting the best curriculum for you.
• Full-service record management and tracking for you.
• Easy week and day planning for each student, flexible to your family's schedule.
• Down the road planning and insights, so your child is prepared for every stage of education, two-steps in advance.
• State-by-state assistance in finding any grant dollars to help your child get more resources.
• Peace of mind for every element so your life stays calm.

Final Thought

Homeschooling is not just an educational choice. It’s a life choice — one that lets you reclaim the thousands of hours that matter most, reestablish your voice as the primary influence in your child’s life, and build an environment where your family’s values are not one voice among many, but the foundation everything else grows from.

You don’t need perfection. You just need presence. And homeschooling gives that back to you.