Why does everyone assume that homeschooling means 'going it alone'? My 15yo son attends traditional public school and its working well for him.

My daughter attends online k12 (as close to homeschool as she could get, long story, but which affords her autonomy in her day). Prior to this, when she was still enrolled in the district high school, she had to quit volunteering at the local animal shelter when school started due to scheduling conflicts. She was actually hindered from engaging in and contributing to her community in a meaningful way by her school district. When she started with k12, her social interactions and involvement in the community (or village, if you prefer) have grown and widened ever since. Her education has skyrocketed. She holds down a job year round, full-time in summer, partly to afford horse ownership and everything that goes with that. She is actively pursuing practical knowledge in several arenas, exercises critical thinking skills, and she's also learning humility and patience by the bucketload each time she gets bested by the 1200lb creature in her care, ha!
Her exposure to- and her engagement in- her village, has grown since she was given the option to forego the traditional public in-school educational setting.

Don't be so quick to judge something you don't really know anything about. A classroom of kids is not even remotely close to a village- nor is it an adequate picture of what 'the real world' is like. Like I said, my son is still in regular public school and doing well.

I've made it a point to engage my kids with our community since they were infants, mostly bc of my own engagement (I was a youth gymnastics volunteer head coach for 10 years, competitive as well as recreational, toddler to 18 years of age).

We need to stop spreading the negative stereotype that homeschoolers are sheltered, unlearned, and not engaged with their communities because it is simply not true.