One of the keys to "Socialising issues" with home schooling is to network with other home schoolers. Here where I live there are a tremendous number of home schooled kids but there is also a fantastic network of parents who meet regularly to have their students associate with others. It also allows parents to discuss their teaching methods with others to either give or seek advice.

In the majority I have found kids who have been home schooled to be more polite and have a more active attitude to learning. Those who have graduated seem to obtain employment faster. This is not meant to place Home schooling on a level above that provided by the normal system but as has already been said both systems have their pros and cons.

Certainly there has been a trend to home schooling because of perceived lack of progress in a public system and that includes such things as class sizes and bullying. There is of course also the stresses placed on teachers and the desire to push kids in certain directions. Another underlying reason for the increase in home schooling I found recently was that of costs, and it appears to be progressively becoming the major reason.