MARIETTA - Angela Covert always thought people who home-schooled their children were great. She never thought she would be one of them.

But when her oldest daughter, Taylor, was in first grade, Mrs. Covert and her husband, Nathan, began to change their minds.

At her first parent-teacher conference, the teacher told the Acworth mother that her daughter could count to 27. That surprised Mrs. Covert, since she knew that Taylor already was counting to 100. A combination of a demanding child who required most of the teacher's time and a 22-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio made it impossible for the overworked teacher to keep up with her daughter's needs.

"How can one teacher realize where every child is?" Mrs. Covert said. "I realized that I know where my daughter is, and I do a better job knowing and working with her."

Four years later, the Coverts are still home schooling. Mrs. Covert teaches Taylor, now 10, as well as her other daughter, 7-year-old Amara.

She loves the flexibility a home-school schedule gives her family, she said. She's able to teach at her child's pace. Mrs. Covert doesn't have to speed through lessons and lose her daughter, or move too slowly and bore her, she said.

The difficulties are the same that she faces every day as a parent.

"It can be stressful. You're going to have a bad day or even a bad week," she said. "It's a lot of pressure. You have all day to focus on, 'Am I doing enough?' I think that's a good thing, as long as you don't let it control you."

Numbers rising

The Covert family are just one among many in Georgia and in Cobb choosing to teach their children themselves. In the 2006-2007 school year, there were 2,903 home-schooled students in Cobb, with an additional 116 home-schoolers in the city of Marietta.

The numbers have risen in the past five years throughout Cobb. In the 2002-2003 school year, there were 2,505 home-schoolers in Cobb and Marietta. Over the next four years, that steadily increased: there were 2,600 home-schoolers in 2003-2004, 2,755 in 2004-2005, and 2,737 in 2005-2006. Last year, in 2006-2007, there were a total of 3,019 home-schoolers throughout Cobb.

"In general, we have seen growth in home schooling in Georgia, but it's at the pace we've seen growth in enrollment," said Dana Tofig, Georgia Department of Education spokesman. "It's a tad higher (for home-schoolers), but not significantly higher."

State superintendent Kathy Cox believes that parents need options, and this is one of those choices, Tofig said. He reiterated that most Georgia parents choose public schools.

But it's hard to ignore that in recent years. A growing number of parents are deciding to take on the responsibility of their child's education.

Making the choice

Jenny Sutter, a mother of four, moved to Acworth from Florida this summer. Mrs. Sutter has a master's degree in education and her husband is a teacher at North Cobb Christian School.

After years of teaching at private schools and dropping her children off at public schools, this is the second year Mrs. Sutter has home-schooled her children.

Having time with her children is the biggest home-schooling benefit for the Sutters.

"I want this time to bond with them. I felt like I only saw them for one hour every day, and so it's been great this year to be home," she said. "I love knowing each and every part of what they are learning."

Mrs. Sutter said she doesn't really worry her children aren't getting what they need, educationally. She looks online to make sure her children have learned the standards, but enjoys freedom from a "teach-to-the-tests" mentality.

While she knows she can't shield her children from everything, she's also enjoyed being able to pick and choose what her children are exposed to.

"I'm a public school fan, and teacher," she said. "But they were coming home saying, 'What was this that was written on the bathroom wall?' Now I have a little more say in socialization."

Janice Rountree is a Marietta mother who teaches her three youngest children at home. She believes that a home-school education is the best education.

Her two older children already are done with high school. While a student at Kennesaw State University, her second son, Jonathon, wrote an essay with his first-hand perspective on home-school education.

"He was for home schooling, but was only for it if it was done correctly," Mrs. Rountree said.

Finding support

These days, home-schoolers don't have to do it all alone. There are networks that offer athletic teams, once-a-week group classes, and support. Charlotte Berry coordinates the home-school group at North Metro Church.

"We exist to provide encouragement and fellowship for home-school families in their like-minded pursuit of training up their children," she said.

The group offers educational opportunities through things like fine arts classes, science fairs, and field trips.

Members communicate through an e-mail chain to share questions and information about curriculum and resources. It also gives children a chance to develop friendships with other home-school students. There are 45 families in the group; about half are members at North Metro, Mrs. Berry said.

Home-school families still answer questions about socialization, but Mrs. Berry said she doesn't think it is a problem.

"I think that home-school children are sometimes, if it's done properly, even better socialized than children who are in classes all day. In the real world, there's no other time in our lives that you are in a group of 25 people who are the same age and live in the same neighborhood, she said.

"Home-school kids are taught all along to socialize and get along with people of all ages."For the Covert family, home schooling has been a good choice. It's not one they're sure they'll make forever, though. Mrs. Covert is like most home-school parents, and takes things "one year at a time." She does know she won't send her children to public school anytime soon.

Private school is an option, Mrs. Covert said, but tuition costs make it difficult for many families to afford. There are lots of reasons families decide to step up and take on the job of acting as teacher and parent, she said.

"There are people who had experience with home-schooling and always wanted to do it. There are others who have things happen in school who see that things just don't add up," she said. "Everyone has a different trigger."

efarnsworth@mdjonline.com

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