Here’s a link to a great article on home schools:
http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/10672001.html
The author says, “Why does homeschooling work? In a word, family support.”
He also points out that 12.5% of National Spelling Bee finalists were home-schooled in 2007, 13.5% in 2006, and that the National Georgraphic Bee champions in 2003 and 2005 were home-schooled. This is compared with total home schooled students being only 3% of all elementary and secondary students.
Clearly, something right is going on here (or, wrong, if you are British).
It was a more specific question.