Over a dozen students rush into Janis Schlepp’s class, ready to begin a lesson on grammar and different parts of speech.

Mr. Noun, the monkey, Ms. Verb, who’s always on the move, Granny Adverb, owner of a farm, and Sir Adjective, a knight in shining armor are all central characters in Schlepp’s grammar jingle. Students happily sing along, learning elements of speech in the process.

For seven years, Federal Way native Janis Schlepp has been the director of the HIS Ministry Homeschooling Co-op in Des Moines. From hiring and training teachers to helping design the curriculum and teaching third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, Schlepp oversees just about everything at the co-op.

Every Thursday more than 60 kids, ranging from 5 to 18 years old, make their way to Resurrection Lutheran Church for school. No matter the class, hands-on learning is very much a part of the curriculum – whether it’s KIRO 7 meteorologist Jim Guy presenting the daily forecast, a man dressed up as a Viking, bringing history to life or memorizing facts through songs. The rest of the week is spent learning at home.

“I love encouraging homeschoolers in their journey and seeing them get excited about learning,” Schlepp said. “For example, many of our lessons revolve around hands-on activities, ranging from experiments and special guests who really bring to life the time period we’re studying. We try to stay active as much as possible.”

Over the years, homeschooling has seen a rise in popularity. Today, almost 1.8 million children nationally are being taught at home, at a homeschooling co-op, or both. In Washington state alone there are now more than 20,000 homeschoolers, compared to 1987 when there were a little more than 4,000. King County, Pierce and Spokane school districts have the most homeschoolers, whereas Klickitat, Franklin and Chelan have none, according to an annual report conducted by the state.

According to the same report, homeschooling retention rates have been stable over the past five school years – with the exception of the Bethel, Pierce, Ferndale and Everett school districts and Thurston Public Schools. Over 130 students decided to transfer back into the public school system from these districts.

A recent study conducted by the federal Department of Education sheds some light on why some parents are choosing the homeschooling route: about 91 percent of parents did so based on their concern about the school environment, primarily the issues of safety, drugs or negative peer pressure. Another 77 percent said it was a way to provide religious and moral instruction, and 74 percent reported being dissatisfied with the school system’s academic instruction.

As for Schlepp, she’s part of that 77 percent.

Schlepp structures her co-up around the Christian classical approach, with three units of history and two units of science per year. Students learn chronologically, starting with ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt and make their way to present day. Science is studied in a similar fashion. There is also a morning Bible class.

Families in the HIS Ministry co-op must pay a $45 monthly family fee. Whether families are sending one child to the co-op or 8, only one fee is applied. High school students pay an additional $70 per month, but their family fee is discounted to $20. If any child chooses to take an elective, such as Latin or art, an additional $20 is charged. Parents are also required to be a part of the co-op – whether it’s teaching a class, assisting a science experiment or helping out on the playground.

Although students meet once a week, co-op teachers assign work to be completed at home for the remainder of the week. The parent is expected to facilitate the child’s learning at home, design a plan to teach math and conduct annual testing in line with state guidelines. Some parents keep a portfolio of all their child’s work and send it to an accredited program to be evaluated for a high school transcript and diploma.

Each unit is completed over a six-week period and is designed to accommodate different grade levels based on three distinct categories: grammar for grades K-5, logic for grades 6-8 and rhetoric for grades 9-12. Each grade level is exposed to the same material, although in a different manner.

Students in kindergarten through fourth grade spend time absorbing facts, whether it’s important Civil War figures or elements in the periodic table. In sixth through eighth grades, students are taught to think about arguments and critically analyze the facts they spent memorizing early on. Once students reach high school age, they take their analyses a step further and learn how to eloquently articulate themselves.

“It’s like a peg board,” said Schlepp. “During the grammar stage, they’re building this peg board. By the time they’ve hit the logic level, they’re hanging things on it. And when they get to the rhetoric level, they’re adding color.”

Schlepp’s style of teaching, although not foreign in the homeschooling community, is definitely a shift from the Common Core standards adopted to fit language arts, science and math curricula. Many states have implemented these standards to help students prepare for college and the workforce.

“I find it interesting that, since the adoption of Common Core, I’ve gotten hundreds of public school parents calling and asking if they could just homeschool their kids for one subject, primarily math or science,” said Jen Stuber, the board advocacy chair for the Washington Department of Homeschooling.

It’s not uncommon for parents to homeschool their kids part-time, especially for science and math. According to annual reports conducted by the state, a majority of parents in neighboring school districts are selecting that option. Olympia and Thurston and Jefferson counties have the highest number of kids attending public schools part-time.

“Parents are able to tailor their child’s education to their learning style,” added Stuber. “Homeschool parents tend to be the guru, the guide, the muse and the facilitator when it comes to helping kids excel, and especially when preparing them for college.”

The U.S. Census Bureau found that homeschoolers between the ages of 18-24 are more likely to participate in college-level education. Results showed that more than 74 percent of homeschoolers have already taken college level courses, compared to 46 percent of public school students.

The National Home Education Research Institute also concluded that homeschoolers typically have higher college GPAs and retention rates than students who graduated from public schools. Homeschoolers have an overall GPA of 3.46 by their senior year of college, compared to 3.16 for those who received a public school education.

“People are always like, ‘Oh, homeschoolers; they’re so sheltered and don’t get out much,’ but that isn’t the case,'” said Emily Schlepp, Janis Schlepp’s 18-year-old daughter. “I’m going to college in the fall, and although I’m a bit nervous, I’m also excited because I like change and I’m ready to pursue my degree.”

She added, “My mom did a great job. She really tried to give my siblings and I a well-rounded education.”

Karina Mazhukhina is a University of Washington student in the News Lab program.