Everyone says that about homeschooled children and in most cases it's a bunch of bollocks.

I know loads of people who were homeschooled (strong Christian beliefs combined with lack of trust in the state system) and not only are they very well educated and able to think for themselves, by far the greater majority have excellent social skills.

If school is your only socialising option then sure, you're going to lose out. But most people who are homeschooled will also attend churches, youth groups, have loads of relations, etc (oooh, fun generalisations) and thus have a lot of opportunity for learning social skills.