McDonough mom creates learning center built on community

After struggling to find a community for her children, a mom in McDonough, Georgia, decided to build one herself.

Chivon Carter founded Community Co., an early childhood center that focuses on community and helping children learn through play.

“When you look through the lens of the idea that we’re actually raising people and not little kids, everything changes. Here we teach children how to learn, not what to learn,” she said.

Children at Community Co. are encouraged to learn by doing with the help of licensed educators who create individualized learning plans.

In addition to helping kids learn, Carter wanted to create a space for parents to connect.

The center includes a coworking place for parents to work or hangout while their children are learning.

Carter said a goal of hers was to keep families connected.

“And that’s why we did it,” Carter said. “We didn’t want to be disconnected from our children.”

Carter said she hopes her type of education center will become a normal part of the world.

“My hope for our community at large is that alternative education becomes normalized. That parents really get to decide how their children are educated, and that we come together more as a true village,” Carter said.

Applications for the school open Aug. 1, and Carter said families may be able to use the Georgia Promise Scholarship to help pay the tuition.