@Jules13 - We experienced many of the same feelings you have--we love the teachers, staff, and environment of our local elementary school. Our oldest two still attend for "specials" (art, music, PE), and we have a great relationship with the Principal. We were intensely frustrated, however, with the pace of learning. We'd send our kids to school for 7.5 hours every day, and they'd come home with 1-2 hours of homework each day. School was very easy for them, but very time-consuming, and it felt like they weren't learning. Which was probably true--they're early readers, and our oldest is obsessed with math.
Now, our kids cover a broader range of subjects (math, science, language arts, history, religion, spelling, handwriting, practicing the piano, and I'm sure I've missed something), at a faster pace, and with far less time spent. They start around 8:15, and they're done with all of school usually by 12:30 or 1:00, and are free to be kids the rest of the day. We are free from the stress of dragging the kids out of bed and rushing them to get dressed, eat their breakfast, and do their chores before running to school. We're free from the "witching hour" in late afternoon where the kids just got home from school but still have homework and everyone is tired and Mom still needs to make dinner. The kids enjoy learning and still have lots of time to run around outside and ride bikes draw on the sidewalk with chalk and dig in the dirt and just generally be kids.
It's not a walk in the park by any means. It's a lot of work for my wife--besides the school time, she also spends about an hour per day preparing for the next day. It's not always fun--kids sometimes get grumpy or pouty or belligerent. And it's not cheap--I think we spent about $1300 for curriculum for our first year, although with a year under our belts, I anticipate that we'll spend less next year. But it has been soooooo worth it. And those are my wife's words, not mine :)
It's a big leap to make, especially in the US where sending your kids to public school is so heavily engrained in our culture. My wife and I are both products of the public school system, and both had good experiences growing up. But we also see how much more potential our kids have when they're allowed to learn at their own pace.
If you're going overseas, you have to be careful about homeschooling. Some countries ban it, and will go so far as to take your kids away from you if you don't send them to public schools. Germany for sure is like that, and I think Sweden or Finland also has a similar policy.