Fun and Learning

The only time Oliver Walton goes to school is when he's on the set of an acting job, where he's required to put in three hours a day. Otherwise, the 13-year-old from Long Beach, Cal., spends his time playing cello in a youth orchestra, taking field trips, competing in gymnastics championships or playing Scrabble -- in French.

Oliver and, until recently, his brother, Nick, 16, are the new faces of home schooling. The Walton family has no religious or political beef with the public schools. Mom Jennifer -- a violinist who plays on movie soundtracks and does studio work -- and Dad Scott, a Los Angeles police detective, just think they can do better. They focus on the boys' strengths and interests (foreign languages and fine arts are core subjects) in a setting free of drugs, disruptive behavior and general pedagogical malaise. Between 1999 and 2003, the number of home-schooled kids jumped nearly 30%, to 1.1 million.

There's no best home-schooling model -- that's another appeal. "You own the education," says Patrick Farenga, an education consultant and home-schooling dad who lives near Boston. Parents may act more like general contractors than teachers, lining up tutors, online or community-college courses, or learning co-ops.

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The cost runs from a couple hundred dollars a year for field trips and basic materials to a few thousand dollars for a prepackaged curriculum from the prestigious, 109-year-old Calvert School, in Baltimore.

Calvert's plan comes complete with professional assessments and advice. The biggest cost of home schooling is often the forgone income of a parent who gives up employment. But few kids spend their whole childhood studying at home. The average is two years.