Recent homeschool alumni here, did high school in an online public school. My parents are not religious. I’m all over pop culture references. I’m well spoken and well read.
Yes, lack of socialization is still a very common question where I’m from. And yes, if the last time you partcipated in an EC was the age of 12, you’ve never had a true peer, and your close non familial relationships are through the internet, yup your social growth is stunted. Especially if you’re prone to anxiety. Yes, I function just fine within society but I’m often sick to my stomach while doing it. I have an extremely hard time relating to people my own age. I seek out friendship with people older than me most of the time, which comes with its own problems.
Begged (yes, begged) to take advanced courses or community college classes; nope, those classes are unnecessary. No ACTs or SATs, community college is good enough. I’ve both seen the stigma attached to being a cc student on this board and experienced it in real life.
My K-12 educational experience could quite easily be replicated even if I’d gone to “jail school”. It is not public school vs homeschool vs unschool vs private school but how much our parents allow us to achieve. After 18, education is what you make of it. Yes, some of us go to college. Good on you, OP, for listening to your kid, doing what was best for them, and allowing them to flourish despite it feeling foreign to you. Some of us are not so lucky.