A decrease in homeschooling numbers has been noticed by the Hanover School Division.

Superintendent Randy Dueck says they keep an eye on the numbers to help plan for future projections. He notes they check on the number of children being home schooled in their catchment in June and November.

"In June of 2015 we had 612, in June of 2016 we had 649, and now in June of 2017 we have 591, so a drop of just over 50. If we look at our November numbers when we check in, November of 2015 we had 531, November of 2016 we had 589, and November of this year we had only 580."

Dueck says numbers have been on the rise for the past 15 to 20 years and this is first time they have seen a decrease or plateauing. He adds there are a number of reasons why people chose to homeschool their children.

"Each family probably has their own reasons, I don't know you can generalize those reasons very easily. But I would say there's a wide range, some familites probably feel more comfortable doing homeschooling than some others might, some for potentially religious reasons, some for traditional reasons, and some because they jsut want to maintain an close relationship and proximity to their kids."

Dueck notes they will continue to keep an eye on homeschooling numbers to determine whether this is a one-time dip in numbers or if there is a change happening to the trend.