How to Teach a Topic You Hate

Inside: The 6 things you need to remember when teaching something you think you hate. Plus a nifty {freebie}

Because even the best homeschool moms can’t love every subject.

It started with lesson 5.2: linear functions.

Just saying it makes me want to lie down.

Isaac was at the kitchen table, pencil in hand, face red with frustration. His younger brothers were having the time of their lives nearby—laughing, drumming with pencils, living their best distraction-filled day.

I forgot to duct-tape them. (Kidding. Mostly.)

By the time I sent the younger ones outside and grabbed my marker, the damage was done. Isaac was fuming. I was pretending not to.

I drew a staircase on the whiteboard.
“Isaac,” I said, “if this is you doing Algebra, what’s the goal at the top?”

Crickets.
Blank stare.
Somewhere upstairs, a faucet dripped, mocking me.

And then it hit me.

Even though I had a teacher’s smile on my face, inside I was stomping my feet like a toddler.
I had just passed my own math hatred on to my kid.

How to Teach a Subject You Hate (and Not Wreck Your Kid in the Process)

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1. Keep Your Opinions to Yourself

If you hate it, confuse it, or can’t see its purpose (hello, chemical equations), keep that to yourself.
Your kid doesn’t need your baggage.

They’ll have their own someday.

Our job isn’t to pass on our opinions—it’s to give them space to discover what they love.

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2. Find the Greater Good

Every topic that feels useless to you is the foundation of someone else’s dream job.

Balancing chemical equations might be my nightmare, but it’s a biochemist’s happy place.
Algebra is someone else’s art form.

Remind your kids that you might not need it, but someone out there definitely does—and the world is better for it.

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3. Talk About the Purpose

Instead of saying, “I hated this too,” try:
“This teaches patience.”
“This helps you practice logic.”
“This is about finding the most efficient way to solve a problem.”

When we shift the focus from “why bother?” to “what skill am I building?”, the lesson stops being torture and starts making sense.

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4. Don’t Label It a ‘Who Cares?’ Subject

When we call something stupid or useless, kids believe us—and stop trying.

Skip the phrases like “I was never good at this” or “You’ll never need this anyway.”
Instead, say, “This one’s tricky, but we can figure it out together.”

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5. Be Overprepared

Sometimes we “hate” a topic because we don’t understand it well enough to teach it confidently.

Do a little extra prep. Watch a YouTube video. Read a one-page explainer before the lesson.
Half the time, what we fear most becomes interesting once we understand it.

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6. Don’t Confuse ‘Challenging’ with ‘Useless’

Struggle isn’t failure—it’s progress with bad lighting.

Kids need to face hard things. It builds grit, patience, and humility.
It’s their job to perspire.
It’s our job to inspire.

The Chicago Cubs can tell you: victory after struggle is sweeter than honey to Winnie the Pooh.

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7. Teach It Anyway

Because sometimes the very thing we dread becomes the thing that teaches us most about ourselves.

Isaac didn’t magically fall in love with Algebra that day.
But we both survived.
And the next day, when the marker squeaked across the board, I saw something I hadn’t before—
not the equation, but the effort.
That mattered more.

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Free Cheatsheet: How to Teach Subjects You Hate

Because yes—there’s duct tape humor, but there’s also strategy.

Inside this free printable, you’ll find:

• 5 mindset shifts to stop passing on your subject stress
• A simple “lesson reset” checklist
• Encouraging words for the next meltdown

Grab it here → [link to freebie]

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Final Thoughts

We all pass on our likes and dislikes to our kids—it’s human.
But learning isn’t about making everything lovable. It’s about growing the ability to press on even when it’s not.

So the next time you sit down to teach the subject you’d rather skip, remember:
You’re not just teaching math or grammar or science.
You’re teaching resilience.
You’re teaching curiosity.
You’re teaching that hard doesn’t mean hopeless.

And if all else fails?
Try duct tape.