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On the downside, I have seen kids raised to reject mainstream science and culture. I wouldn't want my kids to be this isolated.

Exactly! It is the lack of real life socialization that is missing in homeschooling. A kid will accept just about anything a parent tells him. My son once misunderstood me and thought I said his grandpa was a cardboard box!!! He would have believed anything I told him (for a short time anyway, LOL!).

Even though there are now groups of homeschooled kids who socialize together, there are still lessons in real life that homeschooled kids never get to experience. Such as learning to cope when they don't receive immediate attention from the teacher. Is it really helping kids to live a sheltered life without knowing the trials and tribulations that occur in the real world?

The real lessons are when a child falls down and is able to pick himself up again.

I would be interested in the number of homeschooled kids that graduate from a typical major university of over 100K students. I think many just have not developed the necessary social coping skills.

You would be dead wrong. You think bullying, going along to get along, putting condoms on cucumbers, cliques and the like are necessary to learn at age 10, say ? That a kid is crippled for life by learning at home, being part of a family and a community ? That kids in school 6 hours a day 9 months of the year learn how to get around their community and make true friends better than kids who live out in that same community those same 9 months ?

The socialization argument is such a cliche that it's laughable. Do some reading, go to some homeschool conventions or co-ops, and tell me the kids are deficient in any kind of social skill. What do you consider necessary social skills ? Talking about the latest pop star's boyfriends, latest rap hits, how many ho's you killed on Grand Theft Auto, how well you trash talk ? Or, do necessary social skills consist of politeness, the ability to listen and respond, make friends with those of common interest not just physical proximity, and more importantly, respect for others ? And which ones do you find in public schools among the majority of children ?

Believe me, these kids develop a better sense of self (note I'm not talking about self-esteem) and are better equipped to handle the same crap that comes at them in college and the workplace simply because they didn't have to suffer under it or participate in it at an early age.

Try this, for a start: http://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html

then this: http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,58-17910,00.html

or my favorite essay, this one: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/zysk1.html