There were a record number of home schools and students at these institutions in the state of North Carolina and Richmond County last year.

In fact, these numbers have steadily increased over the course of the past five years at the state and local levels as more parents and guardians decide to keep their children home for the academic grind.

For local resident Stacey Straight, the decision to home school her four school-age children stemmed from her university studies in elementary education, as well as her belief system.

“One thing that’s very important to me is that I get to instill my beliefs and values in them because I’m here with them, instead of them picking up the other stuff in the world,” she said. “It’s not that I’m against public schools, my husband and I both attended public schools, but we are a Christian home school, and I want to be able to instill my beliefs in my children.”

However, as her husband Jerry explained, they had some of the same common misconceptions about home schooling as everyone else.

“What we found, was home schooling is not school at home,” he said. “You’re not trying to do public school at home. Here, they have the freedom to learn at their own pace, and life is their school. They’re classroom is everywhere.”

Stacey explained that when the kids are grocery shopping, they are learning to estimate, and when they are playing with their pets, they are learning the life cycles of animals.

Eight-year-old Abigail illustrated this point. When a comment was made about the gerbil she was holding, she launched into the life cycles of gerbils, as opposed to hamsters.

According to figures published by the North Carolina Department of Administration Monday, there were more than 41,000 home schools statewide last school year, up from more than 38,000 the previous school year, and 31,530 in the 2004-05 school year.

In Richmond County, there were 109 home schools with 212 students for the year. In the 2007-08 school year, 96 home schools had 177 students, and in the 2004-05 school year 74 home schools in the county instructed 133 students.

Statewide, the demographics increased for each age, with the exception of 15-year-olds, where it dropped slightly.

The percentage of home scholars who attend religious schools has slipped over the past five years, as well. In 2008-09, 65.9 percent of the state’s home school students attended a religious school. In 2007-08 it was 66.7 percent and in 2004-05 it was 67.8 percent.

Testing data comparing the populations of North Carolina students in public schools and in home schools is not readily available, but there is a traditional argument that smaller class sizes and more personalized styles of instruction are more effective in fostering analytical thought processes.

The converse supposition is that many who administer home schools don’t have the same level of training and accreditation as teachers at a public school.

North Carolinians for Home Education Regional Director Wendy Hilton said she has noticed an increase in interest in home schools over the past several years.

“(Why) could vary, but a lot of it is just dissatisfaction with the public schools,” she said. “A lot of people think it’s just religious people that do this, but a lot of people do it because they’ve had bad experiences with the public schools and they’re just generally dissatisfied.”

She said some parents feel a bit overwhelmed about conducting classes at home, until they see what really goes into it.

“As people are seeing that more people are doing it, and getting to know people that are home schooling, they see that it isn’t as hard as they might have thought,” she said.

A cursory Internet search reveals page upon page of resources available to home school administrators, and Hilton also said it helps when parents group together to share ideas and provide social activities for home scholars.

Local resident Gail Buck home schooled her daughter for a period of time, but decided to re-enroll her in public school.

The upcoming school year will be her fourth back in a traditional classroom setting, but the decision wasn’t based on the difficulty of keeping up with course work, Buck said.

“What I ran into is I work a full-time job and it was just a little hard for me to find the time to do the home schooling,” she said.

She explained her daughter used the A BEKA home school curriculum, and worked about four hours a day, five days a week to complete her assignments.

“One thing that I faced that was harder with home schooling was her not interacting with children her own age,” Buck said. “That was one problem, but from a curriculum point-of-view, it was probably a little bit more advanced than the public school. She was probably a little bit ahead of where she would have been at the public schools.”

Straight said she copes with the issue of socialization by working with a group of about two dozen home schools from Rockingham and Cheraw that take field trips together, teach classes together and do special study projects.

“Obviously, they’re a part of that group, but that always seems to be a big concern when you talk about home schools, and I’ve found that it’s not that much of an issue,” she said. “They’re in church groups, sports groups with parks and recreation, 4-H groups and boy scouts. There are just so many ways for them to socialize.”

And the advantages, her husband Jerry explained, outweigh the challenges.

“The real advantage is they can work at their own pace,” he said. “When they’re done with an assignment, they don’t have to wait for 15 other kids to get done. When they’re done with the fifth grade, they don’t have to wait until next fall to go to sixth grade. It’s not as many hours a day they have to work, and they get more done.”

Even so, Stacey said she’s aware this model is not for everyone to follow.

“You really can’t push home schooling on anyone, because it’s not for everyone - it’s not easy,” she said. “However, if you’re willing to make that commitment, I’d recommend it to anyone.”