More times than not life goes full circle and it does that when talking about Riverside, Texas. When I was younger I lived there with my parents. Then when Charlie was little David and I rented a home there.
I loved the small Town feel and how you could walk all over and no, one would bother us. One of my favorite places to visit both times I lived there was the Riverside, Library and then we would head to the Park.
For my family there is something I love about homeschooling that has nothing to do with sitting down at a desk with a stack of worksheets. Learning can begin anywhere. Which made teaching Suzzane and Charlie easier because they never like to sit still at a desk and work.
#Homeschooling can begin on a walk. It can begin when a child asks a question. It can begin with something they see, hear, smell, touch, or taste. It can begin during a family outing when someone suddenly says, “Why is that there?” or “How did they do that?” or “I want to know more!” One of my favorite questions.
That is what this Homeschooling Beyond the Classroom series is all about. We began this journey with Riverside, showing families that learning doesn’t have to happen inside four walls. A local outing can become the starting point for history, geography, science, reading, writing, art, cooking, research, and so much more.
But what happens when you come home? You keep learning. And one of the best places to continue that adventure is the local library. Come and check out the Riverside Library with us.
After visiting Riverside and noticing all the things around you, don’t let the questions stop when you get back in the car. Take those questions with you to the library where you can check out books and attend classes.
Maybe your child became interested in the history of Riverside. Maybe they noticed a plant, an animal, a building, or something about the neighborhood that made them curious. Maybe the outing started a conversation about how families lived years ago, what Fort Worth looked like in the past, or how communities change over time.
Those questions are opportunities. And a library gives you a place to explore them. For families in the Riverside area, Riverside Library is located at: Riverside Library 2913 Yucca Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76111 817-392-5560
The library’s current hours are: Sunday: Closed which to me is crazy because this is the day most families would be able to visit a Library but what do I know.
Monday: Noon–8 PM Wouldn’t you think they would open earlier?
Tuesday: 10 AM–8 PM
Wednesday: 10 AM–8 PM
Thursday: 10 AM–8 PM
Friday: 10 AM–6 PM
Saturday: 10 AM–6 PM
It’s a good thing I don’t make the hours and days the Library is open because I would change things because the times they choose don’t make a lick of sense to me. What about you?
Although the Tuesday evening schedule makes this especially convenient for families who want to turn a daytime learning adventure into an evening library trip. And this doesn’t have to be a big production.
You don’t have to walk into the library with a six-week curriculum. You can simply walk in with a question which can become an Entire Lesson when #Homeschooling our children. Imagine that while visiting Riverside, your child becomes interested in local history.
Instead of simply answering the question yourself, take that curiosity to the library. Look for books about Fort Worth history. Find books about Texas. Explore books about how communities developed.
Look for old photographs or books about transportation, buildings, neighborhoods, or the people who helped shape the area. Now you have reading. You have history. You have geography. You have research. You might even have writing.
Ask your child to choose one thing they discovered and tell you about it. For younger children, that might mean drawing a picture. For older children, it might mean writing a paragraph, making a timeline, or creating a small presentation for the family.
One question became a lesson. One outing became a research project. And nobody needed a traditional classroom. What If Nature Caught Their Attention? Perhaps your Riverside adventure wasn’t about history at all.
Maybe your child noticed birds. Maybe they saw a tree they wanted to identify. Maybe they wondered about insects, flowers, weather, water, or the changing seasons. That is where the library can open another door.
Find nature books. Look for field guides. Find books about birds, trees, insects, gardening, weather, or Texas wildlife. Then take the learning home. Your child can keep a nature journal.
They can draw what they saw. They can compare two plants. They can look for birds in there own neighborhood. They can make a list of animals they spotted during the outing and research one of them. Suddenly, the family outing has become a science lesson.
Here is another one of my favorite ways to continue learning. Food. Maybe your family talked about a food you saw, smelled, tasted, or remembered while you were out. That conversation can lead straight to the library.
Find a cookbook. Find a book about Texas food. Look for books about farming, food history, cultures, or cooking. Then come home and try something together. Now your child is reading a recipe.
They are practicing measurements. They are learning about ingredients. They are learning how to follow directions. They may be learning about where food comes from. And, best of all, they are doing something together with their family. That’s learning, too.
The Library isn’t just a place for book and this is something I really want families to remember. When we think about the library, many of us automatically think: Books. And yes, books are wonderful.
But libraries can become starting points for so much more. A library can help children learn how to ask questions, find information, compare sources, discover new interests, and pursue an idea all the way to the end.
It teaches children that when they don’t know something, they can look for the answer. That is a skill they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. And that is one of the things I love most about homeschooling beyond the classroom.
We aren’t just teaching children facts. We are teaching them how to learn. You Don’t Have to Be a Homeschool Family which is something I want to make this clear because this idea isn’t only for homeschool families.
You can be a public-school family and do exactly the same thing. Your child might come home from school asking a question. You might take a weekend trip somewhere. You might visit Riverside as a family.
You might hear your child become fascinated by a subject during a conversation. You don’t have to be following a homeschool curriculum to say: “Let’s go find a book about that.” You don’t have to be #homeschooling to turn curiosity into learning.
You don’t even have to make it complicated. Go to the library. Find a book. Ask questions. Talk about what you read. Then see where the conversation takes you. Then let your child choose the next question.
One of the best things you can do after your Riverside outing is ask your child: “What would you like to know more about?” And then listen. Maybe their answer surprises you. Maybe they choose something you never would have thought to teach.
That’s okay. Actually, that’s wonderful. Because now you’re following their curiosity. Maybe they want to learn about animals. Maybe they want to know how people lived 100 years ago. Maybe they want to learn how maps work. Maybe they want to cook. Maybe they want to draw. Maybe they want to build something. Maybe they want to know why a particular tree looks the way it does.
Don’t be afraid to follow the rabbit trail. Sometimes the best lessons are the ones you didn’t plan. You can even turn your Library Trip into a Family Adventure and make the library visit part of the outing itself.
Before you go, talk about what you remember from Riverside. Write down a few questions. At the library, search for books that might help answer those questions. Let your children choose some books.
Bring them home. Read together. Then decide what to do with what you learned. Maybe you’ll cook something. Maybe you’ll make a craft. Maybe you’ll draw. Maybe you’ll write. Maybe you’ll go outside and observe nature. Maybe you’ll visit another local place. The learning doesn’t have to end. It can keep growing.
One thing I have learned through the years is that you don’t need to spend a fortune to create a meaningful learning experience. You don’t need a classroom makeover. You don’t need shelves full of expensive curriculum. You don’t need a complicated lesson plan.
Sometimes all you need is: A family outing. A question. A library card. A few books. And the willingness to explore. That is what Homeschooling Beyond the Classroom is about. It is about looking at the world around us and realizing that it is full of opportunities to learn.
This is part of our Homeschooling Beyond the Classroom series, and our first article began the journey by looking at Riverside as a place where families can explore, observe, ask questions, and learn together.
If you missed that first article, go back and start there. Then come back here and see what happens next. Because that’s the whole point of this series. We don’t want learning to be a single moment. We want to show you how one experience can lead naturally into another.
Riverside can lead to the library. The library can lead to a book. The book can lead to a question. The question can lead to a project. And the project can lead to another adventure. That’s how learning grows.
Coming Thursday: Try It at Home and we’re not stopping here. On Thursday, August 20, we’re taking the next step in our Homeschooling Beyond the Classroom series with:
Try It at Home
We’ll take something your child might have discovered during the Riverside experience and turn it into a hands-on activity you can do at home. Because reading about something is wonderful. Talking about it is wonderful. Researching it is wonderful.
But sometimes children really remember something when they get to make it, build it, cook it, draw it, test it, or create it themselves. That’s where we’re headed next. So start thinking about what caught your child’s attention during your Riverside adventure.
What made them stop? What made them ask a question? What did they want to know more about? That just might become Thursday’s lesson. Adults have questions to so those ideas can also be used.
One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the understanding that learning doesn’t only happen when somebody tells them it is time to learn. Learning happens when they are curious.
It happens when they explore. It happens when they ask questions. It happens when they open a book. It happens when they cook beside you. It happens when they draw what they see. It happens when they research something simply because they want to know. And sometimes it happens on an ordinary family outing to Riverside.
So take the trip. Ask the questions. Visit the library. Choose a book. Follow the curiosity. Then see where it takes you. Because sometimes the best classroom isn’t a classroom at all. Sometimes it’s your community. Sometimes it’s your library. And sometimes, it’s simply your kitchen table with a book open in front of you. Remember when at the Library to check into the classes and special events they host when #homeschoolers could join in.
Keep following along with our Homeschooling Beyond the Classroom series, and don’t forget to go back and read our first Riverside article before Thursday’s “Try It at Home.”
This series will take us one City at a Time through Fort Worth & Dallas as we explore ways to #Homeschool which may also be turned into Blog Content so make sure you stay tuned to see what we find and do.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates