I Was Homeschooled: Here’s What I Would Have Changed

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I always knew I wanted to homeschool my kids. It was something I discussed with my husband even before we were married—a total dealbreaker for me.

I was homeschooled myself, and overall, I had an incredibly positive experience. However, as I reflect on it now, especially in light of the resources available today, there are a few things I would have done differently.

Before I get into those, let me just say: I have so much respect and gratitude for my parents. They were early homeschoolers, immigrants in a new country with limited support, and they did their absolute best with what was available.

This post isn’t a critique—just a look at what could have been different, especially compared to what we have access to now.

A Bit of Background

I was homeschooled from age 11 until I graduated high school. Before that, I went to a mix of public schools and a tiny church-run school (we’re talking 21 kids total, aged 4 to 16).

My final year in public school was tough. Not academically—I was ahead—but socially, it was rough. I played sick more times than I can count. That year was a turning point for our family, and it led to my parents making the decision to homeschool.

We started homeschooling just as my parents bought their first home in New Zealand, during a recession. The internet barely existed, we had dial-up (if anything), and curriculum options were extremely limited, especially being down here at the bottom of the world.

Despite all of that, I had an overwhelmingly positive experience. So, what would I change? Keep reading…

#1 I Wish There Had Been a Bigger Homeschool Community

We were part of a small homeschool group through our church, but I was one of the oldest kids, and there weren’t many social or learning opportunities with peers my age.

I did lots of extracurriculars—violin, piano, drama, Irish dancing—so I wasn’t isolated, but I think having a larger co-op or homeschool group would have added a lot.

Today, those groups are way more common, and I think it’s great that kids now get to grow up around more diversity of thought and experience, even within the homeschool world.

#2 I Wish I Had a Better Writing Curriculum

I used Abeka for language arts almost the entire way through. While it covered the basics, it didn’t do a great job of teaching writing.

It wasn’t well explained or laid out, and that’s something my mum has said she wishes had been better, too.

I figured it out eventually (thankfully, I knew how to learn), but now that I’m teaching my own kids and using solid writing resources, I’m picking up on things I didn’t fully grasp back then. It’s definitely something that I’m being very intentional about when it comes to homeschooling my own children.

#3 I Wish Online Help Had Been a Thing (Especially for Math)

Math was an area where we struggled. We used Abeka, and while I was generally good at math, the answer key never showed how to get to the answer.

Math was not my mum’s strong suit, and so if the answer was wrong and she didn’t know why it was wrong, we were stumped.

My mum and I had many frustrating moments at the dining table, both of us unsure how to solve a problem. In the end, my mum found a tutor for me to go to once a week (which helped).

How cool is it that now YouTube and Khan Academy are available! That would have been such a big help back then.

Today, a kid can Google a math concept and find 5 different ways to understand it. That would’ve saved us a lot of stress.

#4 I Wouldn’t Have Done Correspondence School for My Final Year

In my last year, we used the New Zealand correspondence school and did a few NCEA courses to help with my transition into tertiary education.

Honestly? It was miserable. The content was dull, the grading felt random, and it sucked the joy out of learning. I even scored well on an English exam without reading the play (I just watched a video version and picked an essay question that included the excerpt).

And it turns out… it didn’t even help me get into nursing school. My application was originally declined. But then my mum put together a detailed portfolio of what I’d studied (including anatomy and physiology), and the polytech admitted me based on that.

In hindsight, we wouldn’t have bothered with the official curriculum. The portfolio spoke for itself.

Final Thoughts: It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect

I’m sharing all of this not to make you doubt your own homeschool journey, but to encourage you. There’s so much pressure to get it all right—to make sure our kids have no gaps, no regrets, no shortcomings.

But here’s the thing: every educational path has gaps. Public school, private school, homeschool—none of them are complete.

The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is to raise curious, motivated, independent learners who know how to find what they need when they need it.

My parents didn’t have much money. They didn’t have all the resources. But they gave me the gift of learning how to learn. And that’s made all the difference.

If you’re homeschooling right now and wondering if you’re doing enough… I hope this encourages you. If you’re showing up, being intentional, and loving your kids through it all, you’re doing better than you think.