WENATCHEE — Daniel and Christina Marion slide into their desks at the top of the stairwell at 6:30 a.m., and open their Bible study books for some quick pre-breakfast reading.

The 11- and 12-year-old are home-schooled, which means their parents are solely responsible for their education. The parents choose the books, the lessons and monitor the children’s progress. Home schools are separate from the public school system, which means there’s no teacher oversight or state funding.

The children can go as far and fast as they choose in their studies. The sooner they get through their math, spelling, history and the other four subjects they study everyday, the sooner they can do what they really love: Reading books or playing outside.

They picked up that philosophy from their mother Sarah Marion, who home-schooled when she was a child. She attended Mission View Elementary School until fifth grade. She was a year ahead in half her classes, but the school district didn’t have a way for her to advance to the middle school.

“So I had to stay on campus at that school and redo the fifth grade classes I had already done in fourth,” she said. “My parents said well, we’re not sending you to school to just repeat everything.”

Their family knew friends who home-schooled their children, and they helped the Marions get started.

Sarah Marion remembers hiking the foothills with her brothers to watch the sun come up, then racing home to finish math by breakfast.

“I loved being in control of how soon I could get out of school,” she said. “If I got my work done and it was done correctly I could move on and play. I loved that, it was really motivating.”

When her children reached gradeschool age, she chose to home-school them for several reasons: She wants them to have a challenging education, infused with Christian values. She loves the fact the family eats three meals together, and that her children’s social skills aren’t limited by their age group.

“I think they have strong moral character because of it, because they know every day they’re loved, supported and nurtured,” she said.

Home school is a lot easier for Sarah than it was for her mom, she said. She finds school books for cheap at the annual home-school curriculum sale, eBay and Costco. The family invested about $500 for the kids’ first new curriculum set called LifePac this year.

The top of the stairwell is lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves. The children read their workbooks in the library-quiet room and ask their parents for help if they are stuck on a problem.

Their 2-year-old Ester May insists on “doing school” too, and plays academic games at her toddler’s desk.

When Daniel and Christina were younger, their mom taught them directly but as they grew up, they started working more on their own. Every fall, Sarah writes their assignments in the kids’ daily planner, although the children often finish their work ahead of schedule.

The kids take a pre-test every fall so Sarah knows which subjects they need to focus on that year. The state requires home-school families to test annually, so in late spring the Marion children take the California state assessment.

Christina and Daniel scored at the post-high school level for language arts and reading. Daniel is working on 11th-grade math. Christina is also post-high school level spelling.

“I don’t put pressure on them to be a grade ahead if they’re already doing their best,” Marion said. “It’s kind of neat because I know them so well, if they’re struggling I can give them extra help on that and I also know when they’re not putting in their best effort.”

It’s not all book work. From 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. the children work out to Tai-Bo, they play piano, they set up easels and draw, they garden, read books and help out around the house. They publish a monthly newspaper about their family — Christina writes while her brother draws the comics.

Sarah Marion said she often receives compliments on her children’s social skills, which she attributes to home-schooling.

“They say our kids are fascinating; they really have something to add to the conversation,” she said. “I think when kids are segregated by their age group, it can be really challenging to communicate with someone older. ”

Daniel and Sarah are both on youth soccer teams, they swim and hang out at the library. They’ve spent weeks in Europe, Mexico, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Marion’s husband, Jim Marion, is a national computer programing expert and lectures all over the world for Oracle, the company that owns PeopleSoft.

“I love our life,” Sarah Marion said. “We get to spend together as a family and I feel like I’m making an impact on the future through my kids.”