The other day I was sitting in front of my computer when I looked around. As I did I realized it had been several days since I’d left my house. I hadn’t done any walking or drinking water.

Instead of doing anything about it I got on Facebook. But as I was looking around I found several new places I would like to visit and Events I would like to see about going to. As I waited for David to get home I thought this could become a new series on the blog.

This would allow me to create a homeschool guide for the communities around us, I knew I didn’t want to begin with the biggest attractions in DFW. I wanted to start closer to home. Because one of the things I love about homeschooling is that learning doesn’t always require a long drive, expensive admission or a perfectly planned field trip.

Sometimes it begins with simply looking around your own community. So our first stop in the new Homeschooling Close to Home series is Riverside. A small Town that has several hidden gems in it.

One of the things that immediately caught my attention about Riverside is the public art. There are murals around the neighborhood, but there are also some smaller pieces of public art that are easy to overlook because they are part of things we normally don’t think about as art.

For example, there are utility boxes throughout the neighborhood. Some of the boxes have featured musicians, singers and other artistic designs, while newer designs feature flowers.

That gives a family an opportunity to turn an ordinary drive through the neighborhood into an art lesson. What colors do you see? What patterns do you notice? Who or what is represented?

How does one box compare with another? If you’re looking at the flower designs, can your child identify the flowers? You could even photograph the different boxes and create a little Riverside public-art collection.

And then the lesson can continue at home. Look up the flowers. Find out where they grow. Learn what they need to survive. Then if you have the opportunity check out a gardening book from the library to keep the learning going at home.

Then plant something together. What started as a decorated utility box can become art, science, botany, photography and gardening. You can plant inside Plants and Flowers or outside ones.

Riverside also has some older freestanding buildings that can become another kind of classroom. Architecture is history. Instead of simply driving past an old building, stop and look at it.

What is it made from? How are the windows shaped? What does the roof look like? Is the building symmetrical? How is it different from buildings being constructed today? Who built it? What was it originally used for?

A child could photograph the building, sketch it, research its history or even recreate it with LEGO or building blocks. You can turn architecture into history, art, geometry and writing without ever needing a formal worksheet.

For families who enjoy exploring cemeteries and local history, Riverside also gives us another opportunity to slow down and learn about the people who came before us. You will find Mount Olivet Cemetery here.

Older cemeteries can be fascinating places to study local history. Look at the names and dates. Notice the symbols on the headstones. Look for military markers. Talk about how families were connected.

Choose one person and research who they were and what life was like when they lived. Of course, cemetery visits should always be respectful. We’re not simply looking at graves as attractions. We’re learning about real people and the community they helped build. That can lead to genealogy, history, writing and even a conversation about how communities remember those who came before them.

Riverside also gives us another way to learn about our community: food. There is an old barbecue restaurant in the area with a long history, and that opens the door to an entirely different kind of homeschool lesson.

Texas barbecue isn’t just food. It’s part of Texas culture and history. Where did the tradition come from? How have barbecue restaurants changed over the years? How many owners has this resturant had.

What kinds of wood are used? Why do different regions prepare barbecue differently? What makes a good barbecue sauce? And then take the lesson home. Visit the library and find a Texas cookbook.

Choose a recipe. Talk about measurements. Learn about ingredients. Make something together. You don’t even have to eat at the restaurant for the restaurant to become part of your homeschool lesson.

For the books we’ve mentioned when leaving Riverside you could stop by The Riverside Library, located at 2913 Yucca Avenue, which is part of the Fort Worth Public Library system.

And this is where our Riverside exploration can go even further. The library isn’t just where you get books. It’s where you can research the things you’ve discovered. Suppose your child sees a mural and wants to know more about the artist.

Find a book. Suppose you’re studying flowers. Find a gardening book. Suppose you’re interested in the old buildings. Look for local-history resources. Suppose your family becomes interested in another culture after discovering a restaurant nearby. Look for a cookbook.

Suppose your child becomes interested in airplanes, animals, science, photography or history. Ask the librarian where to start. The library can become the place where one small discovery turns into an entire unit study.

Riverside also reminds us that parks don’t have to be reserved for weekends. A park can become a homeschool classroom. Bring a notebook and spend an hour observing. How many different plants can you find?

What birds do you hear? How many kinds of trees can you identify? What happens to the shadows as the sun moves? What kinds of insects live around the plants? And if your child is artistic, let them draw what they see.

If they’re a writer, let them describe it. If they’re curious about science, start asking questions. There doesn’t have to be a worksheet. Then let them run and see what they find unusual in the Park.

And then there’s the community Itself and this is where I want this series to be different. We’re not going to tell you that every outing has to be a formal field trip. Sometimes exploring your community means noticing the businesses around you.

Maybe you discover a tea shop selling boba. Maybe you find a restaurant serving Japanese food. Maybe you discover an Indian restaurant, bakery, market or another business you’ve never visited.

You can turn those discoveries into geography, history, culture, food science and even home economics. You can learn about a country and then visit the library for a cookbook or two.

You can choose a recipe and make it together. You can compare ingredients. You can learn a few words in another language. You can study where a food originated. The field trip doesn’t always end when you leave the location. Sometimes that’s when the homeschool lesson really begins.

This first Riverside guide is going to grow as we discover more. That’s intentional. We’re going to explore these communities the way a homeschool family might actually explore them—one discovery at a time.

We’ll look for the places that are free. The places that are inexpensive. The places that offer actual homeschool programs. The places that teach history or science. The places that encourage creativity.

And the places that are simply interesting enough to make a child ask: “What’s that?” Because that question can be the beginning of a lesson. And you don’t always have to leave your own backyard to find it.

That’s the whole idea behind Homeschooling Close to Home. Once we finish examining Riverside we will move onto Haltom City, Texas which was where my family lived for a long time. If there is something here or in Riverside, Texas you think we should see leave me a comment so I can check it out and share it with my readers.

Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates