All the things you're all mentioning are why homeschoolers roll their eyes when asked about the "s-word": socialization. It warms the cockles of my heart that you all understand the value of it AND the weaknesses of the system for getting it. So many people don't!
There are many ways to get the turn-taking, working together, when to be quiet, sharing aspects of socialization outside of school. I think all those things are important, but I also think that socialization AND socializing can be quite easy to find elsewhere if necessary and/or desireable. School sure doesn't have a lock on it.
