- play groups gives play time w/ mixed-age kids
- piano lesson gives (non-parent) teacher-student setting
- living every day life has child interact with adults for various things (e.g. ask the cashier if they have X for you to buy)
- tight knit parish community gives very diverse age range (babies, toddlers, teens, seniors, etc) for both play, service, hikes, etc
- siblings close in age
Full disclosure, I was very skeptical of homeschooling to start and am myself a product of one of the best Bay Area private schools. I only chose to give homeschooling a try as I had a flexible remote-work situation and thus a year of not being tied to a school schedule seemed worth a shot. It has been a success beyond my imagination and my son is not only ahead of where I expected scholastically, but also socially.