When Caroline Collie stepped into her first Classical Conversations meeting, she described the feeling as “finding her tribe.”

She was surrounded by fellow homeschooling parents with whom she could relate, and her children were with their own peers, as well.

That was her motivation behind opening a Classical Conversations branch closer to home in Washington this fall.

Classical Conversations is a community-based, international program for homeschooling parents and their children to attend weekly meetings for educational and social support. It serves around 91,000 students and their families, according to data from North Carolinians for Home Education.

“For a lot of parents that homeschool, they might have support from family members… some families are excited about it; some families are not super excited about it and think the kids are going to be weird,” Collie said.

In the realm of homeschooling, skeptics of the practice fear for children’s socialization, but little thought is given to parental interaction and the difference it can make.

“I just needed other people who knew what it was like to be alone at home with multiple children every day,” Collie said.

A small group of parents and their students meets every week for 24 weeks at Church of the Good Shepherd in Washington. While following a curriculum at home, students also learn new lessons in different subjects as a group each week.

As of now, the Washington branch has an age range of pre-kindergarten to sixth grade, but Collie said she hopes the program will grow to include older students, as well.

“If we have any more join, then we’ll divide them up into one or more classes, maybe by age, maybe by gender, just kind of based on how many there are and what seems like the best fit,” she said. “Already after our first week I’m really grateful and thankful we’re there.”

Collie said she wants the Washington branch to be a place where families who have chosen homeschooling can interact, gaining new ideas and bouncing off concerns. It is also a good way for the students to make more friends outside of their other extracurricular activities, she said.

“Parents need other parents just for encouragement,” Collie said. “It’s parents kind of coming alongside each other and working together.”

For more information about the Classical Conversations branch in Washington, email Caroline Collie at cedcollie@googlemail.com.