I had a coworker who was an 8th grade science teacher before changing professions. His wife also taught, first grade, I think. When their first son was old enough, they sent him to first grade. The son's school experience was so bad, they pulled him from school and decided to homeschool. They eventually had three children - all homeschooled.
The oldest son was into Robotics, swimming, music, etc. Omaha has a nice homeschool population so they were able to find teachers to teach their kids if they needed help, such as music and voice lessons.
Their oldest graduated from high school six months ahead of schedule with two years of college under his belt. Our local community college cuts tuition for kids that are in high school taking college courses.
Their kids were involved in church activities, sports, music lessons, etc., just like public school kids are but without all the drama. Their kids were not isolated - they were very involved with their homeschool friends and sports activities. In addition, they had their kids complete 40 hours of volunteer work every year starting in junior high. The kids had to research which organization they were interested in, call and speak to someone about volunteering and what was expected during the experience.
So in this case, with the parents having been teachers and knowing a lot of people, this homeschooling experience worked.
