Some parents say they are "homeschooling" to cover up for chronic truency. I don't deny that they are out there.
The homeschoolers that I know are all doing very well. Then again, the way I know them is from homeschool support groups and such, so if they weren't very committed parents, I would not be interacting with them in the first place
Similarly, the homeschoolers that you see are those that, for one reason or another, were not making it as homeschoolers, which is why they're back in the public school. So I'm not surprised that each of us is seeing a different view of homeschooling, because each of us is seeing a different subset of the homeschool population
You would not be seeing the successful homeschoolers because successful homeschoolers generally do not reintroduce their kids to formal school systems until high-school (fully equipped biology/chem labs are expensive, etc), or college.
My oldest, for example, went directly from homeschooling to community college for a year( at 15), then to 4-year college
And as in your experience, one enrolled this fall at a community college. She liked it, but said it was noisy and some kids didn't seem to want to be there, so she avoided them. Carried 12 hours and made straight A's. Pretty good for a 16 year old!
My own daughter had a similar opportunity, but turned it down. She loves school and her activities there. Her big loves are marching band and wind ensemble. It's possible to duplicate both outside of a school, but tough. There is Drum Corps, but that's a commitment and a half!