BY BRAD A. HODGES
SALISBURY POST

Renee Gray first pondered home schooling 10 years ago, about the time her first son was born.

But she and husband Peter didn’t decide for sure to try it until Morgan, now 10, had spent a few days in kindergarten at Hurley Elementary School.

“The thing we were looking for was, we agreed we’d both like to be more involved in our children’s education,” Peter said in the basement classroom of his family’s house near Catawba College.

“I was leery at first. But I’d rather them learn their values from us than from a stranger, and that’s no knock on teachers.”

Home schools have multiplied throughout the country in recent years. Rowan County is no exception.

Families interviewed say teaching at home lets them become closer to their children, develop a flexible family schedule, customize curriculum to meet each child’s needs and keep them away from the pressures of drugs and violence in public schools.

For many — about 70 percent of home schools in the state are classified as religious — families like being able to incorporate Bible lessons into daily studies.

Last year, more than 450 students were enrolled in 296 home schools in Rowan County, according to the N.C. Division of Nonpublic Education, the agency that oversees home schools. That’s up from 371 students enrolled in 215 home schools in 1998-1999.

North Carolina had 21,500 students enrolled in home schools in 1998-1999, up from 4,127 students just 10 years ago.

“They feel that doing it themselves rather than delegating it to someone else allows them to be more involved,” said Rod Helder, director of the Division of Nonpublic Education.

Parents quick to criticize home schooling because it prevents children from developing social skills may want to think again, says Virginia Furnas, president of the Rowan County Home School Association. Furnas teaches her rising seventh-grade son, Jon, at home.

“There are lots of resources and the purpose for the association is to provide our families a continual group of peers,” she said. “We’re always looking for ways to enhance the educational experience of our children.”

For $20 a year, the Rowan County Home School Association offers field trips, park days, visiting speakers at monthly meetings and plenty of time to socialize.

Two years ago, the association held its first creative writing contest. This year, it teams up with an association in Cabarrus County to form a band and a choir. The association is also asking Charlotte’s Discovery Place to provide staff to visit Rowan County every two weeks to teach science and offer labs — a service the center already provides in other areas.

North Carolina didn’t officially recognize home education until 1985. That year, the state Supreme Court allowed it to become a legal way of meeting the compulsory attendance requirements under existing laws for private schools.

Parents must register with the N.C. Division of Nonpublic Education. They must keep attendance records and teach at least five hours a day and 180 days a year — just like other schools.

“Some families where both parents work teach children in the evening,” Helder said. “We recommend that it be done in the morning hours when there is less pressure and the child is rested. But there are no requirements in terms of how time is spent.”

At the end of each year, students must take a nationally certified test to qualify for promotion to the next grade.

Distributors make available a seemingly infinite supply of textbooks, planning guides and class materials for home schoolers.

Those who teach at home acknowledge that it’s not always easy. Phone calls and distractions can interrupt learning. Disputes that begin at the breakfast table don’t disappear after class starts.

And fewer high and middle school students attend school at home than do elementary students, Helder said.

“There is such a thing that they call home school burnout,” he said. “When you’re wearing a parent hat and also being the educator it usually is very demanding.

“I guess the hardest part is time,” Renee Gray said. “There’s a lot of planning and organization.”

Renee and Peter reconsider home schooling each year. They say that so far, Morgan and his 9-year-old brother, Trevor, have done well on their state-required tests.

And they appear to enjoy it.

“We’re just taking it year to year,” Peter said.

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For more information about home schooling requirements, go to www.doa.state.nc.us/doa/dnpe . North Carolinians for Home Education also has information for parents at www.nche.com .