Bottom Line, She Wanted a Different Path for Her Children

Real Life Superhero Homeschool Mom, Fee Rocha

I’d like to introduce you to Fee Rocha, Christian, wife, mom, and painter, just to name a few of the roles she fulfills. She is mom to 3 children, an 8th grade 13 year old girl, a 4th grade 9 year old boy, and a 3rd grade 8 year old boy. She is homeschooling her children in the Rocha Learning Academy.

Fee likes the challenge of homeschooling and thinks that being able to make school scheduling fit her family’s schedule, is ideal for her family. She thinks that homeschooling has allowed her family to grow closer together.

Why Fee is a Superhero Homeschool Mom

Fee and her husband, were not keen on the idea that all kids should be pigeonholed into a label or category. That’s why she sought a different path for her children.

“Our oldest went to public school and depending on the teacher, class size, or even what friends she kept at school assessments of her varied from ‘exceptional student’ to ‘underachieving’. So it seemed to me that it was a self-fulfilling prophecy that the child would grow into. Just as we have our ebb and flow moments in our spiritual self, kids do the same in their life, so why should we give them labels that change their perception of themselves? How about throwing the label ‘In progress’ on them?”

Fee says, that was a huge factor for she and her husband. They wanted to educate them at home, so that they could address their development on an individual basis and could guide them each as needed.  

The Rocha couple had concerns over what they were seeing as a deterioration of  their influence on their child that attended public school.

“We knew that if we were going to instill the values that we believe in, we needed to cut out the negative influences.”

She says that in the area where they live, that negative influence was coming from the public school. So they made the decision to bring education home seeking a better path for their children.

A Peek into Her Homeschool

In the Rocha Learning Academy, Fee indicated that their family mainly schools in the kitchen and living room and occasionally, the kids will work on their work on the run.  Homeschooling has become a means of teaching their children how to serve God while learning how to be prepared for this life and getting ready for eternity.  

The Rocha family is a ministerial family. When her husband, a minister, is called upon to serve they do so with their children going alongside them whenever possible. In their home, he leads by example and is an encouraging supporter of their homeschooling endeavors. For them, formal teaching is mixed in with on the job training, so to speak, with what active Christianity looks like. Such ministry includes visitation, meal sharing, hospitality, and evangelism. 

The Rocha family is considering returning to the public educational system when their children are old enough to be able to dual enroll in their local junior college and high school through their junior and senior years. For now, they are a part of an area-wide group of homeschoolers that is spread out because they live in a rural setting. She let me know that their town is about seven thousand in population, that means that their group is made up of families that travel for up to 30 miles in order to be involved. She shared that they gather at various places including a park or a local community center.

Like many, Fee admits her struggle is keeping a balanced life. Keeping a clean home is a priority but struggles with managing housework while at the same time overseeing school work. She’s not alone in this struggle.

“I find myself keeping a clean home, but slacking on the schooling, or vice versa. My children are at the age where they now can help with chores and cooking so it will be easier now (I hope!).” 

She also expressed that she has a fear about homeschooling. Don’t we all? She remarked that she is afraid that she will forget to teach them something vital. 

“Then I remember that it’s all vital, yet none of it is so “vital” so we will be just fine! We live in an age where information is at our finger tips, so teaching them to love to learn is key, everything else, can be Googled!”

I hear this all the time. In fact, I often have this fear myself. But Fee’s statement, “teaching them to love to learn is key” is a good reminder to me that homeschooling is more about self-education than it is about how much one learns.

She went on to explain that in younger grades she focuses on hands-on learning and as the child grows into middle school they begin to work more independently. She wants them to grow into a love of learning and realization that they are able to do it on their own. 

I asked her what her favorite curriculum or resources are in their homeschool academy. Fee loves using Explode the code, Math U See, and Story of the world. She said that every year their favorite subject changes, and last year it was art. Her least favorite subject to teach is grammar because, she says, “there are so many exceptions to the rules.” In order to teach this subject she utilizes a variety of free resources, including YouTube and online sites, to help explain and break down grammar in a way that is easier to understand.

Fee, enjoys painting and crafting. For her making pretty things is a way to unwind and relax. But it’s more than that, in addition to homeschooling her children Fee also brings income into her family. She runs a booth in a flea market where she sells her hand painted signs, vintage finds and painted furniture. This is one way that Fee is using her talents for the financial benefit of her family. 

Join me each Friday as I feature a Real Life Superhero Homeschool Mom.