When we decided to begin our Homeschooling Close to Home series, I knew I didn’t want to start by sending families across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. I wanted to begin where the idea really belongs: close to home. And our first stop is Riverside.
As you know Charlie has graduated but I still enjoy sharing #Homeschool content with everyone and finding new places to explore allows me to find new places I’ve never been which also fits into my series City to City which I will be sharing places my family and I visit. I hope you will come along with me on our journey.
Riverside is one of those places where you can start looking at your surroundings a little differently and suddenly realize there are lessons everywhere. When Charlie was little we lived her and I remember there was a hidden park we enjoyed visiting and Library we spent a lot of time in. We spent a lot of evenings walking the neighborhood looking at the old homes which could led to a lesson on architecture.
When visiting Riverside you don’t necessarily need admission tickets. You don’t need an expensive field trip. You don’t even have to spend the whole day somewhere. Sometimes you just need a notebook, a pencil, a packed lunch and a child who is willing to ask, “What’s that?”
I’ve talked about the murals and public artwork that can be found around Riverside and along the Trinity River in the past and I’ve shared some of the murals in Riverside but there is so much more to do here and I hope you take the time to check them out.
Fort Worth has used public-art projects to transform ordinary, functional structures into places worth stopping to explore. The Tarrant Regional Water District’s Painting the River project, for example, turned utility structures along the Trinity Trails into opportunities for public art and discovery.
That gives us an easy art lesson. Don’t just drive past the artwork. Stop. Look. Take pictures. Have your child sketch what they see. Ask questions. What colors did the artist use? What shapes do you notice? What story do you think the artwork tell?
And there’s something else I noticed when thinking about our Riverside exploration: utility boxes can become art lessons, too. Some of the boxes in the neighborhood have featured musicians, singers and other artwork, while newer designs feature flowers.
Now you’ve suddenly added another subject. Botany. Can your child identify the flowers? What do those flowers need to grow? Which ones grow well in North Texas? Could you find a gardening book at the library? Could you plant one at home?
One little decorated box can lead to art, science, gardening, photography and research. That’s what I mean when I say your neighborhood can become your classroom and it also will teach reading and can become a impromptu pe lesson.
Riverside also gives us an opportunity to study architecture. There are older buildings and homes throughout the area, and Riverside itself has a long history. Riverside was platted in 1891, with much of its development occurring after the area was annexed by Fort Worth in 1922.
That history gives children a reason to look at the buildings differently. Instead of simply saying, “That’s an old house,” ask: How old might it be? What is it made from? How are the windows designed? What does the roof look like? Is the building symmetrical?
How is it different from the house you live in? What would it have been like to live there when it was new? You can photograph it. Draw it. Research it. Write a story about it. Or even try building a model of it with blocks or LEGO. That’s architecture, history, art, geometry and creative writing wrapped into one activity.
Riverside Park gives us another opportunity to turn an ordinary outing into a lesson. The City of Fort Worth lists the park at 30.8 acres, with trails, a playground, swings, benches, restrooms and other amenities. The park is also connected to the history of Oakhurst Scenic Drive, which was constructed in the 1930s with assistance from the Works Progress Administration.
That is a lot more than “Let’s go play at the park.” Take a notebook. Count different kinds of trees. Look for insects. Listen for birds. Observe the river. Talk about weather. Study shadows. Sketch a tree. Measure a leaf. Write down five things you noticed.
And Riverside Park has another interesting connection to art. A public-art project called The Secret Language of Trees uses the historic pecan grove at the park as inspiration, representing the hidden networks of tree roots through artwork along the park pathways. Now a walk through the park can become science + nature + art.
The Riverside Library is located at 2913 Yucca Avenue. For homeschool families, I think the most important thing is what happens after the field trip. You saw a flower? Find a gardening book. You saw an old building? Find a local-history book.
You became interested in trees? Find a book about Texas trees. You saw a mural? Research the artist. Your child became fascinated by barbecue? Find a cookbook and learn about Texas barbecue traditions. The library can turn one afternoon of exploring into an entire unit study.
History Can Be Found in Unexpected Places. Families who enjoy exploring cemeteries can also find opportunities for local-history and genealogy study. A cemetery isn’t simply a place to look at old graves.
It can be a place to respectfully study names, dates, symbols, family connections and the people who helped build a community. Choose one person. Research their life. When did they live?
What was happening in Fort Worth during their lifetime? What occupations were common then? What can you learn about their family? And remember that we’re talking about real people, so cemetery exploration should always be approached respectfully. A headstone can become the starting point for a history lesson.
One of my favorite things about exploring a community is discovering food. Riverside has a variety of locally owned restaurants and food businesses, including Mexican food, bakeries, coffee and barbecue.
But here’s the part I really want families to remember: You don’t have to eat at every restaurant you discover. You can study the food instead. Maybe you discover boba tea. Research where it came from. What is tea? What are tapioca pearls? How are they made?
Maybe you discover Japanese or Indian food. Go home and find a cookbook at the library. Learn about the country. Find a recipe. Make dinner together. Now you’ve incorporated geography, culture, reading, research, math and home economics. And you didn’t have to buy a restaurant meal to do it.
Make lunch part of the adventure which is where our Homeschool Exploration Box comes in. Remember what we talked about yesterday? Pack your own lunch. Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Bring fruit. Pack crackers.
Make a batch of Chex Mix. Fill your water bottles. Put a small cooler in the car. Then find a park and have lunch there. The goal isn’t to spend money. The goal is to experience your community together.
A Riverside Field Trip doesn’t have to look like a Field Trip That’s really the lesson I hope this series teaches. Your child doesn’t have to walk into a museum for learning to happen. Learning can happen while you’re looking at a mural.
It can happen while you’re walking through a park. It can happen when you notice an old building. It can happen when you wonder what kind of flower you’re looking at. It can happen when you see a cemetery and become curious about local history.
It can happen when you discover a restaurant you’ve never noticed before. It can happen at the library afterward when you start researching what you found. And sometimes the best part is that your child chooses the lesson. They ask the question. You follow the question. And suddenly you’ve got an entire afternoon of learning.
Your Riverside Challenge: So here’s our challenge for the first stop in Homeschooling Close to Home: Choose one thing in Riverside that you’ve never really stopped to notice. Maybe it’s art. Maybe it’s a building. Maybe it’s a flower. Maybe it’s a park. Maybe it’s history. Maybe it’s food.
Take your notebook. Take your pencils. Pack your lunch. Bring your library card. And go exploring. Don’t worry about completing a worksheet. Don’t worry about checking every box.
Just look around. Ask questions. Take pictures. Draw something. Write something down. And when you get home, find out what you don’t know. Because that’s where the real homeschool magic begins.
You don’t have to leave your own backyard to go on a field trip. Sometimes you just have to learn to see your backyard differently. Welcome to Riverside. And welcome to Homeschooling Close to Home. Thank you for joining us on our journey.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates