Cherp is a support group for homeschooling parents and their children. We believe in promoting the education and social skills of our children through interaction with other families with the same goals. We are a fun-loving group that meets every Friday for park time, and the first Friday of every month is a planner meeting, where we discuss upcoming events, curriculum, educational ideas and anything else we can think of!

Everybody is welcome, and there is no age limit.

A Brief History of CHERP

Deborah White and Debbie Schlaepfer started a park day for homeschoolers at Dorotea Park in April of 1991. They possibly chose that park because it was not next to a public school, as many in Rohnert Park are, and that way they wouldn't be under the nose of those unsympathetic to their "cause." The group that met there over the next several years included Diane Dedekam, Nancy Hansen, Cathy Welling and Gretchen McPherson. Lynne Condé, Cheryl Clancy, and Kris Beck were regulars. It was always an informal gathering. The moms talked and the kids played. A couple of the women taught classes out of their home at no charge to the families. A few times they planned an extra event, usually a springtime display of what the families had done during the year.

It was in April of 1999 that Gretchen organized a meeting to which all the subscribers to the Nutshell who lived in Rohnert Park or Cotati were invited. Gretchen had discovered that most of them didn't know one another, and she wanted to rectify the situation. The meeting was at Kelly Fuller's house, and immediately the majority wanted to organize and plan some events together. By June the group had its name: Christian Home Educators of Rohnert Park (CHERP). There was a bowling event in September. The women would take turns organizing an occasional field trip. The first person who volunteered to lead the group was Shirley Lewis. There were meetings at her house for a year, and craft days at the fellowship hall of the Orthodox church.

Dawn Martin, looking for support to begin teaching her Kindergartener, began by attending a meeting at Shirley Lewis' house and got to know Peg Golitzin, Suzie Schneider, Ann Wise and Gretchen among others. After a year, Shirley couldn't find the time to lead so, Shirley asked Dawn to take over leadership of the group. Dawn began emailing those involved about things going on and at first the group maintained only the gathering at the park, the occasional field trip and a couple of holiday parties. After a couple of years we added some events and more field trips coordinated by Nikki Doe. During this time the group more than doubled in size and almost 120 families were on the email list.

During the winter of 2004, Gretchen was praying about pulling out of the "Gretchen's Homeshcool News in a Nutshell" and God sent us Denise Llewellyn! Denise came to the area with loads of leadership experience and the skills and software to continue the Homeschool newsletter. She also gave her time to help organize and build on the already fun activities that CHERP had to offer.

God has truly blessed Sonoma County with a wonderful support system for homeschoolers! Don't you agree?