Sure homeshoolers respresent a random cross section of the population. Anyone can homeschool and they do. The families in the three homeschool groups that I've been part of over the years are average middle class families who don't have a tremendously high income. Some of the career fields I've seen represented are public school teachers, engineers, private self-employed contrators, local dollar store manager, heavy equipment operator, nurse, one lawyer, a mail carrier,.... I've yet to meet a doctor who homeschools their children.
The idea that it's a cream of the crop, elite, super-smart cross-section of the population is only a stereotype and does not have any validity. It only appears to be used to excuse the disparity between public school kids and homeschooled kids.
Homeschooling your kids can give you the opportunity to pick up on what your kids know and don't know and make sure they have mastered the material before moving on, which any involved public school parent can also do.
We homeschooled for a variety of reasons and academics played a part but was not the sole factor. The lice, incest, drug use, teen pregnancy, and school curriculum were all contributing factors.
Universities sure seem to be impressed with the homeschoolers SAT scores, BTW, despite your trying to downplay it as meaningless. I'm sure if public school kids were getting higher SAT scores, it would be used as proof of the failure of homeschooling instead of being blown off as being meaningless.
Universities are impressed by SAT scores, whether or not they are homeschoolers’ scores. I have no argument with the motives of parents who choose to home-school their children nor with the many accomplishments of these children. My argument is with those who point to differences in the average SAT scores of home-schooled children and non-home-scholled children as evidence of the superiority of home-schooling. Mrs. riverdawg and I share the concerns you mentioned about the academic and social environment in many government-run schools, and choose to send our daughter to Catholic school, even though we are not Catholic.