A Day in the Life of Homeschool Mama Cait

Here’s a look at the Day in the Life of Cait, homeschooling mama to three amazing kids, who believes that homeschooling can be almost all fun and games! At Learning Well, we understand that homeschooling doesn’t look the same for all of us. We understand it doesn’t have to either for us to learn and glean good things from each other. Each Wednesday, on our Instagram feed, we feature a new homeschool mama to take over the feed and show us what her day looks like.
Some of us homeschool for religious reasons and that inspires our homeschool days. Some of us homeschool from the road and never do school in the same place twice. We might have been homeschooling for years and years. Or we may have just begun our journeys. We understand that those details don’t really matter though. The common thread that binds us all together is our desires to educate our children differently.
We might all homeschool differently, but we can always look for ideas from each other that inspire, encourage and equip us in our own homeschool days. So, each week, we create blog posts for you to access later of each of those “days in the life”. We hope you keep coming back for more inspiration. Keep going, mama! These days at home are so worth it!
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Meet Cait

I love when I get a chance to share a close real life friend with you! My friend @my_little_poppies is coming over to Learning Well to share her day in the life tomorrow. I am constantly inspired by this lady. Her book picks, love for nature and games, and the way she pieces all sorts of awesome resources together never ceases to inspire my homeschool. I know you’re going to feel the same.
Cait Curley is a school psychologist, mom to three terrific teachers, unexpected homeschooler, and podcaster. Cait truly believes that homeschooling can be almost all fun and games!
In 2014, Cait found herself suddenly, unexpectedly, homeschooling her oldest son. She started My Little Poppies that very same day! She co-founded The Homeschool Sisters Podcast with Kara in 2016.
Cait lives in New Hampshire with her husband, three kiddos, bearded dragon, and puppy. She loves delicious books, strong coffee, board games, and dancing in her kitchen to Kenny Chesney.
Good Morning!

Good morning, Learning Well! Cait from @my_little_poppieshere. I am so excited to spend the day with you!
In our homeschool, no two days are the same BUT we always start the day with a read-aloud (or four! ?). We call this time “Coffee and Books” and it’s as simple as it sounds. I pour coffee and read to my children while they eat breakfast or play.
This simple routine sparks much of our learning for the day. The conversations we have, the rabbit holes we dive down, the connections the kids make later- it’s the most important part of our homeschool day.
Today, we will be reading two new picture books with an Earth Day theme. Then, we will read our current chapter book, Prince Caspian, and then some fun poetry by Judith Viorst. If you want to learn more about Coffee and Books you can check it out here!
Reading Aloud

Our family participates in a weekly Story Club with some friends. It is a book club/writing club and it’s tons of fun. This month, we are reading a book called “Stuck in the Stone Age” by Geoff Rodkey of the Story Pirates podcast.
For those unfamiliar, the Story Pirates podcast features story ideas created by kids. Story Pirates turn the idea into an entire performance… and sometimes even a book, like this one!
I read aloud during Coffee and Books and then the kids take turns reading aloud from this book. It gives them a chance to practice reading aloud and with confidence. (Plus, I get to eat my breakfast while they read! ?)
As a school psych and homeschool mom, I know that reading aloud is the most important part of the homeschool day. Reading aloud has oodles of academic and NON-academic benefits. I recently gushed about all of this and more at the @kindredco_homeschool conference. Did you miss it? Click here for the re-cap, plus ways to check out how to catch the replays and check out the booklists we created during my session!
Weaving Nature Into Our Days

“Leave part of the yard rough. Don’t manicure everything. Small children in particular love to turn over rocks and find bugs, and give them some space to do that. Take your child fishing. Take your child on hikes.” -Richard Louv
We are a family of nature lovers and we weave nature into our days. My kids take breaks to play outdoors, we go on frequent hikes, we visit the local farm stands, we love our nature conservation center… year-round!
When we are indoors, we also incorporate nature. We have a coffee table basket filled with our nature finds, we play nature games, we watch nature documentaries, and we love nature journaling and art!
If you’re looking for some simple ideas to get started with a nature study routine, read anything by Richard Louv or click here for more resources!
Gameschooling!

I am an unexpected homeschooler. We landed here, swiftly and without warning, when my oldest was in kindergarten. I was a product of public schools and a school psychologist. Let’s just say that homeschooling was never on my radar. I never imagined myself here. And yet here we are.
When we first started homeschooling, like many, I attempted to recreate a version of school at home. And it backfired.
The first year of homeschooling is an evolution of sorts. It is filled with fits and starts and successes and tears until, eventually, you manage to find your groove. Often, that groove looks nothing like the public school days of your past. Mine certainly doesn’t! Our homeschool days center around high-quality read alouds and educational games.
That’s right: We are gameschoolers!
I truly, wholeheartedly, believe that homeschooling can be almost all fun and games. A playful atmosphere changes everything, you guys! Learning skyrockets when you relax, embrace rabbit holes, and surrender to delight-driven learning.
Click here to check out the best educational games by age and grade level. I hope it helps you to add more play to your day in 2020! Today, we played Dog Crimes, a new-to-us one-player logic game from ThinkFun.
Story Club

This afternoon, we met our friends for Story Club. We often meet outside and work some hiking into our meeting. I love that so much education can happen outdoors when you homeschool!
Click here to see our family’s favorite book-related resources!
Bedtime

When you become a reader in this house, you get a book light. Just like mom and dad. At bedtime, you do need to be quiet… but you don’t have to go to sleep. I just snuck in and caught one reading and one writing a story (the other is still in math class ?).
It’s been a great day over here. Thank you so much for sharing in our day, @learningwell community! We have come full circle and it’s time for this mama to head to bed with a good book and a cup of tea.
For those interested, you can find me @my_little_poppies, @thehomeschoolsisterspodcast, and @kindredco_homeschool.
Thank you so much to Cait for sharing your family’s day with us!
If you want to see more Day in the Life photos and videos, be sure to check out our Instagram profile. There are highlights of each takeover at the top.