How do I teach subjects I’m not strong in?

At some point in the homeschool journey, every parent faces a subject that makes them wince.

Sometimes it’s math, with its tangled logic. Sometimes it’s science; the kind with Latin vocabulary and long-winded descriptions. Sometimes it’s something supposedly simple, like grammar rules or poetry, that brings back the feeling of not knowing. And sometimes, it’s art. A subject we quietly skip, because it feels subjective, messy, and hard to evaluate.

But no matter which subject stirs that uneasy feeling, the real questions underneath it are the same:

“Am I good enough to teach this?”

“Am I going to mess this up for my kid?”

Let’s pause here, because those are important fears. And they’re normal. But they also come from a misunderstanding of what homeschooling really is.

You Don’t Have to Be the Expert

You’re not expected to become a fully certified teacher in every subject from kindergarten through high school. You are not a walking textbook. You are not a standardized test.

You are a guide. A coach. A steady presence.

Your child doesn’t need you to know everything.

They need to know that learning is still possible even when you don’t know much about the subject.

And that is what you are really teaching!

They watch how you respond when something confuses you. They watch whether you freeze or adapt. They see if you give up or get curious.

When you hit a subject you’re not confident in, you’re modeling what it looks like to be a humble, lifelong learner. That is far more valuable than having all the answers.

When the Subject Feels Bigger Than You

Let’s be practical, though. There are subjects that feel overwhelming. You’re not imagining that.

There will be times when your child is asking questions you don’t know how to answer. It might be algebra. Or sentence diagramming. Or world history, or chemistry, or watercolor shading.

In those moments, it helps to remember: teaching doesn’t mean you have to deliver the content yourself. It means you build a learning environment. You gather resources. You explore alongside your student. You learn to say, “I don’t know, but let’s find out.”

That phrase alone could change how your child thinks about learning for the rest of their life.

What About Subjects That Intimidate You?

Let’s take art as an example. It’s a subject that many parents skip, not because they don’t value it, but because they assume it’s only for “creative” people. They think, “I can’t draw. How could I teach drawing?”

But what if that’s not the point?

What if your job isn’t to teach art as a technique, but to make space for it to exist?

To give your child time to observe, to think in images, to connect what they see to how they feel?

You don’t need to critique their lines or know the difference between Impressionism and Cubism. You just need to hand them the pencil. And more importantly, make time in your week that says: this subject matters. Because it does. Even if it’s not your strength.

You will teach best from the place of learning, not from an illusion of mastery.

And your kids? They will feel safer trying new things when they see you doing the same. You will stumble sometimes. So will they. But stumbling together is a form of bonding most schools don’t have time for. That's why your homeschool is special. You get to mess up! You get to stop and take a deep dive into a vocabulary word or Google where the Andes Mountains are.

So yes, you can teach a subject you’re not strong in.

Not by pretending to know more than you do.

Not by faking confidence.

But by being the kind of person who keeps showing up.

The kind who says, “Let’s figure it out.”

The kind who admits what they don’t know, and learns anyway.

That’s enough.

That’s more than enough.