Lori Cooney works with daughter Ashlyn on math at the Cooney home, as Sean, right, helps brother Shannon with homework. The kids are home-schooled through the Colorado Virtual Academy and are learning more now than they did in public schools, their mom says. (Post / John Prieto)Lori Cooney insists her three kids be dressed and finished with breakfast by 9 a.m. Then they go to school - just off the family room in front of three computers. Sean, 13, tackles algebra first, while Shannon, 11, and Ashlyn, 8, hit the spelling problems. They study until 3 or 4 p.m., catching 20-minute "recesses" to go sledding or throw a football in their backyard. The Cooneys are part of the online education boom in Colorado, which jumped from 166 students in 2000 to 9,150 last year - not including students who take online courses to supplement traditional classroom work.

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