I was homeschooled and I'm glad I was. Of course, I have had some issues (primarily dealing with relationships, or rather the lack thereof), but I can't say that everything would have turned out for the better had not been homeschooled. I honestly will never know whether it was for the better, but I still support homeschooling.
The way that anyone turns out in any system inevitably depends on the person, but as far as homeschooling goes, how you do it really makes a difference as well. The beauty of homeschooling to me is the fact that you really have a lot of freedom, but that can also be really daunting or it can be abused. I'm not a homeschooling parent (yet), but I think that the most important things to consider when homeschooling are these:
1. You really need to be involved in each child's learning. I speak this as one of six children, each of which were/are homeschooled. It seems to me that many homeschoolers, often because of busyness, rely on packaged curriculum to teach a subject without paying much attention, and thus often subjects will fall by the wayside, particularly if a child really dislikes the subject. Having that direct involvement is often, in my opinion, one of the most crucial factors for making homeschooling effective.
2. Every child learns differently. Putting the time in to be involved in a child's education also involves understanding how your children learn and gearing things so they learn the best. Part of this is recognizing that something that worked with one child may or may not work with the rest.
For example, I was the oldest child, and I absolutely loved math. Algebra was amazing to me. I was able to cruise through the curriculum we had with virtually no assistance. When my sisters started algebra, my mother gave them the same curriculum and didn't pay a whole lot of attention. I don't know whether she was aware of this or whether she was just used to not having to worry about it, but they struggled a lot with it, and still do.
Different approaches just work for different kids, and I think that if the right approach is used, any child can learn well. Public school works for some people, but I don't think it works for everybody. Still, just being schooled at home isn't an instant recipe for academic success. Homeschooling gives you flexibility, but you have to use it right.
I'm actually glad I wasn't homeschooled. I probably would have loved it academically, and I'd have loved to have a curriculum tailored to my interests. But I'm shy enough as it is, and I think I'd have had a horrible shock going into college if I hadn't had years of public school to prepare me socially. You can try to socialize your kids if you homeschool them, but it won't be the same as having to experience the normal fun/horrors of the child/teen social scene.
I don't think homeschooling deserves all of the bad reputation as far as social aspects go. It really depends on how you do it. If you isolate your children, then sure, they'll probably have social problems. That doesn't mean that they need to go to school in order to learn how to socialize healthily though. It's really up to you how your children socialize when you homeschool.
Personally, I don't think that the public school environment is very healthy for kids. Sure, you can say that they need to learn how to deal with realities of life, but I honestly don't see how school is the best place to learn that.
Yawn... I going to have to go to bed now and proofread this in the morning. I don't know whether anything I said made any sense..
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