(CNN) – Home schooling is seeing some major changes. This new information age is allowing K-12 students to get public education in their own homes, often tuition-free, by ways of “virtual learning.”

Back to school time for the Henry household means new supplies, but the same classroom.

Elizabeth Henry, 12, and Timothy Henry, 10, are students of Connections Academy, a virtual K-12 public school. It’s an emerging option for parents who want kids schooled at home, but not necessarily home schooling.

“It literally exists without the traditional classroom environment, but it has everything that a traditional school would have,” said Barbara Dreyer, Connections Academy president.

Like a traditional public school, it’s free. Virtual learning has been an option for college students for some time, but younger students seem to thrive with more interaction.

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