The latest numbers from 2007 show 1.5 million kids in the United States are home-schooled, an increase of half-a-million kids in just 4 years according to the U.S. Department of Education.

We now meet one South Dakota mom who is teaching her five kids at home and find out why she made the decision to teach her kids, herself, at home.

Christina Driver doesn't just help her kids with their homework. She's assigns it, choosing to spend 180 days a year teaching at home....concerned about what her kids could be exposed to at public schools.

Christina Driver: "The moral issues that are common in the public school system is not something that our children should be exposed to at this point."

The Drivers aren't alone.

The latest U.S. Census figures from 2007 show more than 3600 kids in South Dakota are home schooled.

In Iowa, more than 13-thousand. In Minnesota over 19-thousand.

The departments of education in all 3 states monitor home-schoolers progress, making sure they learn and retain at the same rate as kids in public schools.

At the Driver house, school is in session for 6 hours. The kids say they enjoy having mom as their teacher.

"I get a lot more one on one time that makes it easier for me," says 7th grader Lane Driver.

Both Christina and her husband went to public school and say their kids aren't missing out but Christina says home schooling should only be done by parents who are willing to invest the time. "You have to make sure that you're committed to being in the classroom all day just as if you were teaching at public school."

There are many states that require you to have some kind of teaching certificate to home school your kids but South Dakota is not one of them.

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