I saw a 16 year old graduate high school with his AA from the local community college.
I've seen a LOT of kids graduate high school with their AA from the local college or at least some college under their belt.
I myself was home schooled. I was probably the worst student my mom had but I'm still smarter then a lot of the public school kids.
Some people say that home schooled people have poor social lives. This is false the majority of the time. It's just a different culture. In my experience home school kids tend to have less social inhibitions.

@EclipticStrike@xanga - To Eclipt. Strike., I'd venture to suggest that since there are some
things that homeschooling doesn't teach, homeschooled people tend to do
better at regular life beCAUSE they haven't been saturated with a lot
of the junk others are forced to be subjected to.
Children who are
taught by their parents benefit from their parent's experience and in
general, have a well developed ability to converse with people with
varying ages easily and comfortably. They also benefit from this
ability by learning from the experiences of others without needing to
go through them themselves and possibly be very hurt in the process.
This ability is very helpful in the long run as these homeschooled
children grow up and enter the workforce. I am not saying that all
homeschooled children have this gift, nor am I saying that all are bold
and adventurous and start conversations at the drop of a hat.  I
understand there are exceptions to everything.
As far as the
parent/ teacher domains, yes I do see your point, however with the
freedom of homeschooling, a parent does have the chance to get their
child in classes and things that help develop a teachable attitude and
in your words "acclimate to a different learning environment." There
are multitudes of activities, classes, camps, and the like that help
develop children in ways often thought impossible.
And as far as
the entire "socialization thing" that's ridiculous! How many "misfit"
public  or private schoolers are there anyway? The reason homeschoolers
are picked out and paraded in this manner is only that there are so few
people who participate in educating their children at home! There are
far more people that have "slipped through the cracks" in the public
school system than have ever been noticed by people as "evidence the
homeschool movement does not work."
As a former homeschooler, I can
say the things I said. I can also tell you that college professors CAN
tell if a person is homeschooled based on the quality of the person's
work.

@ChildofGod86@xanga - And then we're talking about parental pressure with in response to school and education, in that case, does any other country home school? Professors can also tell if a student is from another country due to their study habits because of the culture. If you take away the social sphere of school, you take so much else away as well.

Yes, they are saturated with all this other junk, but isn't it up to them how much they soak it up and what they reject?

@EclipticStrike@xanga - I meant as far as professors and such, they notice based on their ability to carry a conversation with them and based on their work.

as a homeschooled kid/future homeschool mom i enjoyed your tips!  I love how each successful homeschool that I have been a part of (my own family, my homeschool group's kids and the families of kids that I have tutored)are each unique and different, tailored to the children's abilities and weaknesses.  The most successful homeschools I have seen have involved society and culture and have not sheltered the children involved.  The children then become easily acclimated to spending time with adults and tend to show a truer and faster maturity and level of thinking, but are also exposed to the realities of their own peers and can more easily compare the completely different "realities."  It is much more balanced. 
I also have to say that The Writing Road to Reading program by Romalda Spaulding (simplified by Jay W. Patterson in Reading Works) is a superb reading/phonics program.  It's a sister program to the one they use for reading challenged children at the Mayo Clinic and I've seen troubled kids change 2 grade levels in months using this approach.  It's easy to teach and brings confidence and security to kids who struggle.  Any child or adult would benefit from it. :)

@EclipticStrike@xanga - What I'm saying is, that children do get that perspective, when they are ready and not before.

@la_faerie_joyeuse@xanga -  Why, would you recommend 2 years in public school?

@EclipticStrike@xanga -  your statement has no factual understanding. Please educate yourself before deciding on what you think or share with others . I believe this post was meant to inform & encourage those already Homeschooling or soon will, not an opinion poll.

Great Post! It is not easy to Home School, most of us need Encouragements. I saw that a few people here fail to realize how parents who home school make sure there lives are varied & educational, full of interactions with all kinds of people and cultures. And that Home Schooling is not about hiding. My children know how to interact with people of all ages & cultures unlike their public school peers who can only relate with people around their age.

Did you Know that Colleges come to the Homeschoolers seeking out students for their schools?

@Made2sing4Jesus@xanga - Is that not based on opinion as well?

@Made2sing4Jesus@xanga - Well, if it that is the case. I will also share my experiences. I know a few home schoolers for a number of years now and it seems that what you say is the exception. Many of them are unable to socialize outside their inner circle of friends and had a lot of troubling "fitting in" for whatever reason.

@Made2sing4Jesus@xanga - Yet, you said it yourself that home schooled students are able to effectively interact with anyone?