How important is academic success to overall success? The answer may surprise you!

Updated post October 2026.

I'm going to start this post with a story - my story actually.

It's important for you to know how much I value academics before I tell you to rethink its value.

I come from a long line of highly educated people. Both of my parents have college degrees. My father has multiple degrees and my grandmother, who was born in 1906, had a master's degree!

I was raised to value education. To me SUCCESS = COLLEGE.

So when my creative, entrepreneurial husband suggested that a college degree wasn't necessary for our kids, I was seriously concerned.

Over the years, I watched my husband support our family (without a degree). I observed other businessmen and women find success without degrees. I even began my own business that had nothing to do with my own degree.

I continued to prep my kids for college by trying to meet all the college entrance requirements, but to be honest, it was hard. A few of my kids struggled to get through Algebra, let alone Geometry and Algebra 2. I struggled to keep a balance in our homeschool that valued their individual learning abilities, using accommodations to help them work independently of me, and still doing the college prep thing.

As I write this update in 2026, six of our seven children with dyslexia have graduated from our homeschool. And one of the greatest joys of this season of life has been watching them find their own paths into adulthood.

Some have pursued college or additional training. Others have chosen entrepreneurship or careers that allow them to use their natural strengths and abilities.

Their paths have looked very different from one another, and not all of them followed the traditional academic route I once believed was so important.

But here's what I've learned: Academic struggles do not have to define a child's future.

My kids still have strengths and weaknesses, just like everyone else. Some continue to struggle with spelling, writing, or organization. But they've learned to use tools, ask for help, develop their abilities, and pursue work that fits who they are.

Looking back, I realize that many of the things I worried about most when they were young didn't turn out to be the things that mattered most in their adult lives.

Things I worried about while I was teaching them:

• that they would have big gaps in their education
• that they wouldn't be able to handle the demands of a job
• that they wouldn't go to college
• that they wouldn't get a good job
• that they would be insecure because of their reading and spelling troubles

Related Reading: What a Successful Homeschool Really Looks Like

How it worked out:

• Any gaps they had were filled, if and when the information was needed.
• They tried different jobs until they found a good fit but they did find a good fit.
• Some went to college and some didn't and nobody died!
• They all have good jobs.
• They have learned to compensate for their reading and spelling difficulties (hello, assistive technology) and are confident.

Now, with more than 30 years of homeschooling experience and most of my children grown, I can see that my worries weren't necessarily wrong. Reading, writing, math, and academic preparation do matter. But I was often measuring success by a very narrow definition.

My kids needed a good education, but they also needed opportunities to develop their interests, discover their strengths, learn practical life skills, and become confident, capable people.

And those things weren't always found in a textbook!

Here's what I've learned about what was important as I look back at our homeschool.

1. Early years can be relaxed.
2. Use research-based reading programs (Orton-Gillingham).
3. Using interest-led learning resulted in the most memorable learning.
4. Don't be afraid to use assistive technology.
5. Protect your relationship with your child and intentionally nurture their confidence, even when academic progress is slow.
6. Pay attention to your child's natural strengths, interests, and abilities. These may point toward future opportunities, careers, and areas of lifelong fulfillment.
7. Teach them to be curious, to question, and model how to find the answers.

All of my kids are life long learners. They are curious about the world and know how to learn whatever they want to learn. They are avid YouTube watchers, podcast listeners, and audiobook consumers. You see, even though they can all read, they prefer to listen to learn.

Success is Much More Than Academic Ability

Over the years, I have seen how my adult kids have become successful despite their academic struggles. So when I stumbled upon some research conducted by the Frostig Center, it all began to make sense.

In this 20-year longitudinal study (they followed the same subjects for 20 years) struggling learners were tracked and their level of success in education, employment, relationships, health, and their own measure of life satisfaction were observed. The study concluded that there were six attributes that the successful subjects possessed:

• Self-awareness
• Proactivity
• Perseverance
• Goal Setting
• Effective Support Systems
• Emotional Coping Strategies

What I love about this research is that it gives us a much broader picture of what contributes to a successful life.

Yes, academic skills are important, and we should work hard to help our kids develop them. But qualities like self-awareness, perseverance, goal setting, and knowing when to ask for help also play an enormous role in how people navigate the challenges of adulthood.

And these are all things we can intentionally teach and encourage in our homeschools!

In fact, one of the most valuable life skills we can teach our children is how to understand their learning differences and advocate for the support they need.

Read more about teaching kids with dyslexia to advocate for themselves.

For more information on the success attributes and how to teach them to your kids, read this post.

Looking back over more than three decades of homeschooling, I can honestly say that my definition of a successful education has changed dramatically.

I still value academics. I still believe in teaching our kids to read, write, think critically, and develop the skills they need to pursue their goals.

But I've learned that a successful homeschool is about so much more than completing curriculum or meeting traditional academic benchmarks.

It's about helping our children discover who they are, understand how they learn, develop their strengths, overcome challenges, and become capable, confident adults.

And sometimes the things that matter most aren't the things we can measure with a test or put on a transcript.

This post is part of a series: 5 Days to a More Confident Homeschool. Read the entire series starting here.