ignite the artist within
Who is Rita Cheek?
Ms. Rita is a certified teacher in Art and English who has spent many years teaching public, private, in-home, and online classes. Ms. Rita began her teaching career in public schools, and after she started her family took her art program to private schools. As her children grew, Ms. Rita taught more and more classes in her home, which lead her to home-educating her five children.
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Ms. Rita continues to offer her art and writing classes online and in-person to students, who range in age from 5 to 105. She believes the small group setting benefits the student by allowing her to work individually with each student and yet also allowing them the needed camaraderie of a supportive group. While homeschooling her five children, she realized the mix in age levels is a natural and beneficial setting. Ms. Rita's philosophy of process over product is evident in her classes. She believes the arts can provide a door into every other subject and that expressing creatively is a NEED for everyone. Recognizing this value of self-expression has led Ms. Rita to be a lifelong advocate of pushing for the arts to be available for all our children on every level.
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Ms. Rita draws on her large family experiences for her inspiration and has written and illustrated three children's books.
In the News: Advocating for Kids
Reviews & Testimonials
See what Parents, Students, & Educators have to say about Ms. Rita and her classes.
RITA IS A TREASURE!
KAREN ROSS / GEORGETOWN, TX
Our homeschooled grandson, Ben, has been studying art with Rita for the better part of a year now. This is not the first extracurricular activity—nor even the first art class—that Ben has been involved in, but it is by far the best. Ben loves his art lessons, and his confidence and skills have grown by leaps and bounds. Ben is dyslexic, and Rita has been both very sensitive when dealing with him and very reassuring to me—she herself is the mother of a dyslexic son. Rita is a treasure(!) and we will be with her as long as she continues to teach.
Happy with writing
AND drawing classes
for 11 & 13 year olds...
Lindsey Mumy / Austin, TX
Classes with Ms. Rita have been such a positive and happy experience that we just keep coming back for more. Not only do my boys (ages 11 and 13) enjoy connecting with the other children in class, but they love Ms. Rita and what she brings to class. They are eager each time to login and participate with what she has planned for them. My boys have grown in the way they view things, and I have seen them put the things learned in class to work at home. My youngest has started to tell us how he needs to look with his “artist eyes” when in conversation with the family outside of class.
Ms. Rita is very astute, and catches on quickly to each child’s personality. She is able to assess the students’ skill levels and find their strengths and weaknesses accurately. You could not find a more positive, loving, and kind teacher to work with. We are so happy we stumbled upon classes with Ms. Rita!
Highly recommend
Ms. Rita's Classes!
J. Roberts / Fort Worth, TX
Ms. Rita's classes are great! My son looks forward to them every week and is motivated to keep drawing for hours after the class is over. I highly recommend!
FREE TO BE ME!
LONDON HALL, 12 YEARS OLD / LANTANA, TX
I love Ms. Rita and her art class! I like how she gave us directions, but did not tell us what to do. She encouraged us to have freedom with our art. When I look at the art I created today in Ms. Rita's class, I feel super happy and proud of my work. I also really enjoyed being with the other kids in my zoom class and working together.
Grateful for Ms. Rita!
Lindsey THOMPSON, M.ED. / ALLEN, TX
Educational therapist | learning specialist
the Thompson group
Words simply cannot express how grateful I am for Ms. Rita and her classes. She is so inspirational to the kids and truly loves every single one of them. She has been able to bring out a creative side of my side that I knew was in there but couldn’t reach myself. Ms. Rita finds a way to connect to each child and make the classes meaningful for them. As an educator myself, I love to sit in and listen to her teach! It’s pure magic!
A GODSEND &
perfect timing
DONNA HILDEBRAND / AMITY, AR
When feeling suddenly thrown into being a new homeschool mom, I was overwhelmed! Ms. Rita not only offered wonderful classes that covered multiple subjects, but she also showed me that I was not alone and homeschooling did not have to be 'all on me'.
Ms. Rita encouragingly coached me as a parent on how I could connect to other homeschool families and curriculum so that homeschooling could be fun and easy for both me and my daughter. Im beyond grateful I met her when I did.
Homeschooling has been a joy for us, since working with Ms. Rita. My daughter has excelled in every way: maturity, responsibility, self-management, academically, and most of all creatively. The way Ms. Rita designed her online classes has also helped my daughter feel confident with class participation and communication! Just amazing!