So...Your example of the 300 lb homeschooled boy who reads at the 8th grade level is merely an anecdotal example.
Were you aware that only 32% of the nation's **government** schooled children can read proficiently in the 8th grade? What should we do with the 68% who can't read? Should we force them to homeschool?
Also...Since a double blind study on your student is impossible, it is completely possible that if he attended school he may have weighed 400 or 500 lbs. Since the opportunity for exercise and diet control would have been far less.
It is also possible that his reading level may have been lower if he attended school.
Now for an anecdotal reports of my own:
My husband and I tutor the Spanish speaking children of the Spanish speaking members of our church in our county. We also run the cub scout troop for the Spanish speaking congregation.
I work weekly with children who can NOT read at all! They can not look at the number, 512, and tell me what it is. They can not add, subtract, multiply, or divide. They have absolutely no idea what a denominator represents. In other words they are innumerate and illiterate. ( These are children who are **born** in the U.S., have attended head start, and speak English **VERY WELL**!)
If these kids, that my husband and I work with weekly, are learning **anything** at all it is because dedicated members of our church are putting in tons of hours of AFTERSCHOOLING!