I managed to home school for a few years without a co-op.

We started with our youngest, on the recommendation of his teacher who said, "I wouldn't normally recommend home schooling, but he's SO social!" He was having issues learning to write, due to a disability. The school was offering us half an hour of occupational therapy once every eight weeks. I figured he'd be a lot less stressed at home, and I could do OT activities with him every day.

Then we added his sister to the mix, after she ran into a really awful teacher and the only alternative we were given involved a 45 minute bus ride to another school. I was nervous about homeschooling her, because she's never been particularly social, being a bookish introvert.

But there were trips to museums, swimming classes, many, many afternoons playing with the other kids in our neighbourhood... it was like an endless summer, with the addition of some academics every morning.

And, when they reentered the school system in Grade 5, my socially adept youngest was still Mr. Popular, and my socially awkward eldest was still a nerdy bookworm.

I wonder sometimes if there's a bit of confusion between cause and effect, when people talk about home schooled kids being socially behind. (My son being the exception), I'd think that kids who are struggling socially are more likely to be homeschooled than kids who get along wonderfully with their peers and enjoy going to school every day.

The one effect home schooling did have on my kids' social skills, that I could see? My son saw adults as peers, rather than superiors, and that made some of his teachers uncomfortable. And my daughter has always been very comfortable interacting with a wide range of ages (she did very well volunteering with elderly people at our local hospital).