The homeschool community is enormous and very busy. Once you become involved, the deeper you go, the more people you meet, and the more you find to do: co-ops, groups, clubs, sports, etc. You could find something for your children to do every day of the week, if you wanted to.
As long as a parent is willing to join groups, become involved, make connections, etc., then "socializing" isn't an issue at all. The real issue is finding a balance between homework and everything else. With too much to do, sometimes there's very little time left for homework.
But, homeschool schedules can be flexible. The kids can spread their homework over the whole year, including the summer, or cut their busy schedule down the next year to catch up.
Public-school-at-home wouldn't work the same way - I assume? Wouldn't the kids be stuck in front of a computer screen, having to log in and log out at certain times? Not much flexibility there. They could see their friends in the evenings and on weekends, but the school would dictate the schedule, probably.
“Public-school-at-home wouldn’t work the same way - I assume? Wouldn’t the kids be stuck in front of a computer screen, having to log in and log out at certain times? Not much flexibility there. They could see their friends in the evenings and on weekends, but the school would dictate the schedule, probably.”
I assume you are correct. It would likely be what they have been doing since the lockdown started. I’ve viewed this as more like homework which is intended mostly for practice to keep skills and knowledge current. Continued learning and skill advancement isn’t going to be as likely.