{"id":62293,"date":"2021-02-16T07:57:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T12:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/?p=62293"},"modified":"2026-02-12T18:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T23:01:10","slug":"caits-gameschool-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/caits-gameschool-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Cait’s gameschool day in the life (with a 9-, 11-, and 12-year-old)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Cait’s Gameschool Day ~
\nWritten by Caitlin Curley of My Little Poppies<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This is my sixth year participating in Simple Homeschool’s Day in the Life series. Every year, I try my best to keep it real and that’s easier said than done! It’s challenging to share a ‘typical’ day.<\/p>\n

Our family doesn’t really have ‘typical’ days in a typical-kind-of-year.<\/p>\n

This year?\u00a0 What even is<\/em> school? What is time<\/em>? What day<\/em> is it?<\/p>\n

(Can you relate??)<\/em><\/p>\n

I procrastinated on writing this post. I kept waiting for a normal-ish<\/em> day to appear. I might as well wait for a unicorn to appear in my family room! And so I present to you our gameschool day in the life for Monday, February 8th, 2021… the day before this article is due.<\/p>\n

The backstory…<\/h2>\n

Before I share our day in the life for February 8th, I need to rewind a little.<\/p>\n

Do people still say rewind?<\/em> Is there a 2021 term I should use instead of rewind? What was I just talking about?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is how my brain works now, in 2021 times. I walk into a room and forget why I’m there. I lose my coffee, only to find it lukewarm on some random shelf in my pantry hours later. I can’t think of simple words and terms, like ‘lampshade,’ <\/em>and instead, need to talk in circles. “You know! The thing<\/em>! That<\/em> thing! On the light! The lightbulb cover thingy!”<\/p>\n

The past year-plus has been\u00a0hard<\/em>, you guys.<\/strong> It’s been hard for every one of us in a myriad of different ways. Words are hard. Complete thoughts are hard. Homeschooling is hard. Laundry is [still] hard.<\/p>\n

I digress…<\/em><\/p>\n

I need to rewind a few days. I had planned to document our day in the life last Friday. I was excited to share some of the resources we’ve been using for our latest Lazy Unit Study<\/strong>. We are head over heels for all things bird-related right now and having a blast.<\/p>\n

Best laid plans, am I right?<\/em><\/p>\n

On Friday morning my daughter woke up with an excruciating headache and a super high fever. This is the kid who never<\/em> gets sick; she’s my best patient. This is maybe<\/em> her third fever ever.<\/p>\n

In normal times, we’d hunker down and have a lazy day. But in 2021 times, and because we have been really<\/em> careful with social distancing and mask use, and because my husband works directly with COVID positive patients in the ICU, I left the boys at home and took her to our pediatrician for testing.<\/p>\n

\"Cait's<\/a>
Fingers and toes crossed!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And\u00a0then<\/em> we had our lazy day. It was a total snooze-fest and not worth writing about. And then it was the weekend and we weren’t homeschooling. And then yesterday into this morning we had a snowstorm.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to today. It’s Monday, February 8th. We are post-sick. It’s kind of a snow day. And we are in quarantine awaiting test results.<\/strong><\/p>\n

How’s that<\/em> for typical?!<\/p>\n

And without further ado, I present to you our non-typical day in an anything but typical year.<\/p>\n

Sunday night…<\/h2>\n

This has been- by far- our most challenging homeschool year. And our most challenging year as a family. It’s all just total and complete bananas.<\/p>\n

In October, I wrote an article for this site in which I shared how we were muddling through the worst year ever<\/a>. I confessed that we hadn’t had an official first day of school. I shared how we had yet to find a routine.<\/p>\n

Honestly? Not much has changed since then. Read-alouds, hours spent in nature, and play are the things that are giving us life in this season. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Hearts over heads, always but\u00a0especially<\/em> right now.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We’ve been able to add to our homeschool routine since last October. We have fallen into a bit of a rhythm. Things feel a bit easier than they did in the fall and we tend to accomplish a bit more. I’ve also given myself lots of grace. I’m not sure anyone is having their best year ever. If I don’t get to math or writing one day, we’ll survive.<\/p>\n

One helpful thing is to do some low-key, lazy prepping the night before.<\/strong> I’ll select some books I’d like to read. Collect notebooks and sharpened pencils. Strew some creative resources related to a current area of interest. This has made the mornings infinitely easier. I come downstairs, pour my coffee, and the materials are ready to go.<\/p>\n

Last night, as I prepped for a day of post-sick, semi-snow-day quarantining, I decided it should be a gameschool day<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why? Because re-entry is hard when you aren’t feeling 100%. And energy is high following a hefty helping of snow. And games are a wonderful way to connect and sneak in stealth learning.<\/p>\n

I grabbed some of our favorite card games and placed them beside my coffee maker. I call this a “game menu” and it works like a charm for my family. It’s merely a suggestion and often my children will play many of the games I suggest.<\/p>\n

Once I’d selected the games, I went upstairs to read until I fall asleep in my book, as I do most evenings.<\/p>\n

\"Cait's<\/a>
Our gameschool<\/a> day in the life features card games. Card games pack a powerful gameschool punch because they are affordable, easy to store, and portable!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Play and gameschooling is an important part of our homeschool routine.<\/h2>\n

We all know play is essential for child development. Play benefits the whole<\/em> child. It has a positive impact on a child’s physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development.<\/p>\n

And yet…<\/p>\n

It can be challenging to make space for play in our current go-go-go, do all the things, ace all the tests society.<\/strong> Leaving space for play can feel like we’re wasting time. It can feel like it shouldn’t “count” as learning and that we’re somehow cheating the system.<\/p>\n

Well, I’m here to tell you that gameschooling works. As a school psychologist, lifelong gamer, and homeschool mom, I believe homeschooling can be almost<\/em> all fun and games. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be perfect, but I do believe we could all be having a lot more fun.<\/p>\n

Gameschooling is the intersection of play and homeschooling. With gameschooling, you can allow space for play\u00a0and<\/em> make it count for those year-end homeschool assessments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our family considers play to be a part of our homeschool routine. It is just as important as math and science and writing and reading. We play at least one game per day and often, on strange days like today, we play even more.<\/p>\n

(If you’re curious about gameschooling, I’m hosting a free 7-Day Gameschool Kickstart challenge<\/a><\/strong>. It’s oodles of fun and the only thing you need is a deck of cards!)<\/p>\n

Cait’s Gameschool Day in the Life<\/h2>\n

Monday morning…<\/h3>\n

This morning, I woke up at 5:55. I grabbed my slippers, threw on a hoodie, and poured myself a cup of coffee. I love when I wake up before my early-risin’ kiddos. I’m currently reading The Snow Child<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(afflinks) and it’s fantastic. It’s the perfect snow day book!<\/p>\n

\"Cait's<\/a><\/p>\n

Before I sit down to read, I toss some cinnamon buns in the oven. They aren’t homemade, but my kids don’t mind. I find cinnamon buns to be an excellent re-entry strategy.<\/p>\n

\"Cait's<\/a><\/p>\n

I read until my three children trickle down the stairs. We meet at the kitchen island for breakfast. This is the start of our homeschool morning routine.<\/p>\n

Our current morning routine includes:<\/h3>\n