We imagine that their [homeschoolers'] lives are characterized by an absence, an emptiness, which for other children is filled with school. We think of school as a given, and, ironically, have come to view many of the most beneficial social aspects of homeschooling as drawbacks or flaws simply because they are different from a typical school social life. This is the result of a commonly held belief that school is the "gold standard" for socialization...
Rachel Gathercole in The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling
