One thing plaguing many schools is getting parents involved. Well, there's one local school with a couple hundred kids where parents play the most important role in their child's education.

More than a million kids in America are homeschooled and it's growing. Illinois does not require homeschool students to register so there's no exact numbers in the state.

In Peoria, a couple hundred families are members of a homeschool co–op. The kids will meet and work together on specific classes or activities while still getting the majority of their schooling done at home. It's one way kids get the socialization that many people point to as a negative for homeschool.

"As far as a stigma against homeschooling, that really today is not an issue. Usually, people are really positive," Carol Klopfenstein, who has homeschooled four kids since 1986, says.

Homeschool families say it takes a huge commitment by the kids and parents for it to work. Typically, one parent has to stay at home to be the teacher. That's one less income.

There are also expenses with buying textbooks. The Ware Family in Peoria has three grade-school aged kids at home and it costs $500 a year for books.

"You still have to provide 21 meals a week. All of which are almost exclusively homemade because economically you're not going to buy anything that's pre–made. You can't afford it," Hope Ware, the mother and teacher, says.

One way homeschooling has become easier and cheaper is the internet.
Find out how in a special report at ten.

Also, what do homeschool kids miss most about not going to a school, and how do they actually get into college? Details on Nightside.