HOME SCHOOLING QUESTIONS ANSWERED: “Can I Really Teach My Own Child?”

Required Qualifications

The word qualification is an abstract construct — and a powerful one. We’ve been conditioned by a system built on school fees and university credentials to believe that formal qualifications are the only pathway to genuine education. But what if we stepped back and examined that belief?

Let’s imagine a scenario. A global catastrophe has occurred — a holocaust of sorts — one that, while sparing the environment, has wiped out every source of "qualified instruction" as we currently define it. No teachers, no schools, no tutors, no university professors. Just you, your child and a wealth of learning resources in your home.

Now ask yourself:
Would you still ensure that your child grew up to be thoughtful, capable, curious, and wise?
Would you still teach them to read, to observe, to question, to understand the world around them?
Of course you would.

You wouldn’t throw up your hands and say, “Well, that’s it. My child will grow up unintelligent and uneducated.” You’d do exactly what parents have done for centuries — teach your child using what you have, using your instincts, your love and your life experience. Because the truth is, you already possess the most important qualifications needed to educate your child.

I learned this truth during the process of home schooling my own two children. Despite being a Master’s degree qualified teacher, my kids have taught me more about how people really learn than I ever found out at university. My 30 plus years of classroom experience occurred in an environment that is quite artificial and hostile to real learning.

Real Qualification Has Nothing to Do with Paperwork

You know your child better than anyone else. You see their daily growth, notice their strengths and their struggles, and celebrate the wins that aren’t measured by grades or exams — like resilience, kindness, patience, creativity and common sense.

You are their best advocate, their fiercest protector and the one most invested in their success. That’s not something you can outsource. And it's certainly not something that can be replaced by a stranger operating under standardised directives and tick-box assessments.

So when people ask, “Are you qualified to teach your child?” — turn the question around.
Who isn't qualified?
A stranger who doesn’t know them?
A system that doesn’t value their individuality?
A syllabus that was never designed for your child’s unique needs, talents, interests, or pace?

The Truth About Education

We’ve been sold a lie that teaching is something only “experts” can do. But real education doesn’t require a degree in pedagogy. It requires connection, time, encouragement and resources that are aligned with your child’s interests and developmental stage — not a state's standardised expectations.

If the education system collapsed tomorrow, parents would rise up and teach. And many of us are doing exactly that today — not out of fear, but out of conviction.

So, yes — you are absolutely qualified to teach your own child. And you’re also qualified to decide who isn’t.