330. Board Games: Let Them Do the Teaching!

Brave Writer

Julie Bogart and Melissa Wiley

Arts, Kids & Family, Education, Books, Education For Kids

4.8 • 927 Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the best critical thinking curriculum is already in your closet?

This week, we explore why board games and card games do more than pass the time. From Monopoly and Settlers of Catan to Quiddler, Pandemic, and even Operation, we unpack how games build patience, strategy, communication skills, resource management, and flexible thinking—all through play. We share personal stories, favorite family games, and one powerful rule: when your child asks to play, say yes.

Ready to rethink learning? Pull out a game tonight and let it do the teaching.

Resources:

Find our favorite board games in the Brave Writer Book Shop
Brave Writer class registration is open!
Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
Purchase Julie’s new book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
Find community at the Brave Learner Home
Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
Subscribe to Julie’s Substack newsletters, Brave Learning with Julie Bogart and Julie Off Topic, and Melissa’s Catalog of Enthusiasms
Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
Send us podcast topic ideas by texting us: +1 (833) 947-3684
Interested in advertising with us? Reach out to media@bravewriter.com

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Produced by NOVA

Transcript

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0:00.0	Looking for a great math program?
0:03.0	CTC Math provides online video tutorials that make learning math easy and effective
0:10.0	by using creative graphics and animation that are sure to grab and keep your child's attention.
0:16.0	Here's a great testimonial from Lori.
0:18.0	She said one day, my 10-year-old was in tears over math.
0:23.6	I tried my best to help, but I ended up in tears as well. That very night, I received an email offer for CTC Math.
0:31.6	The following Monday, we reviewed the curriculum together. She was willing to give it a shot, and we have never looked back.
0:39.8	Start your free trial today by visiting ctcmath.com.
0:50.0	Welcome back, everyone, to the Brave Writer podcast.
0:53.5	Hello, Melissa. Hi, Julie. Hi, everybody. I'm excited about today's podcast. Melissa, what do you have for us? Okay, I read this great post on threads, and I want to share it, and I'm excited to talk about it. This is from a teacher named Sherry, and she wrote, Hi, parents, teacher here. Can I ask a
1:13.1	small favor? Play games with your kids. Not video games, board games, card games, games that make
1:20.5	people take turns, games that require players to pay attention to what's happening in the game.
1:26.9	Memory games are a good start.
1:29.4	Games that teach strategy quietly. Games that make kids think and learn patience at the same time.
1:37.3	This is a crucial life skill that students are severely lacking and it's making it harder for
1:42.4	students than it needs to be.
1:44.6	Wow.
1:47.6	I mean, this is a topic I love.
1:53.7	I don't know if you know, but I wrote about games in my book, Raising Critical Thinkers.
2:00.0	In the Critical Thinking starts with Caring chapter, because here's what games do.
2:04.9	They require us to think well and we think our best when we care. So I found this amazing quote from a guy who's known for advocating for games.
2:13.0	His name is Bernard Soutes and this quote is my all-time favorite definition of gaming.
	...

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