Creative Kids Co-op has been meeting every Friday morning for more than two decades. In 1993, two moms, Mrs. Jane Fowler and Mrs. Teresa Patton, began the program, not knowing how large the co-op would become in the future.

Mrs. Fowler and Mrs. Patton had been homeschooling together for some time already. Each week, one mom would teach both children for two days. The other two days, they taught their own kids. Mrs. Fowler and and Mrs. Patton wanted their children, Anne Fowler and David Patton, to be in a group setting one day a week with other kids their age. Both Mrs. Fowler and Mrs. Patton had experience teaching, so they decided to begin a homeschool co-op together.

When they first started CKC, they didn’t have much curriculum. They mostly visited the library for ideas. As the co-op began to grow, and more moms got on board, Mrs. Fowler and Mrs. Patton visited similar homeschool co-ops in Richmond and Florida for advice.

In the first year of Creative Kids Co-op, there were only ten children participating. They met every Friday morning at the Cornerstone Church in Bridgewater, which is now a Russian Baptist church. Students made crafts, played games, and put on plays.

When asked what long-term benefits the co-op provided, Jane Fowler said, “My children and I made life-long friends.  We were able to travel as a family and with friends.  My daughter was able to study multiple languages and went on to major in French and Latin in college.”

by L.H., seventh grade CKC student