How do you structure the time to help reinforce your current read-alouds? I am referring to things like notebooking, doing a skit, building a lego scene? And do your kids get to pick whatever they want to reinforce? Last school year we were doing notebooking with our history reading and I thought it went well. This year my 12yo wrote a skit set in Spain with bull fighting that the kids acted out. I want to have a “loose structure” to give some accountability but still have flexibility to follow their interests. Ideas?
One thing I want to mention — not sure if it addresses your question. When I was homeschooling my kids, I resisted spending a little bit of time on each of a lot of different things. I preferred that we spend a lot of time on just a few things. Quality, not quantity. So, applying this to your bull fighting skit, let the child explore this to his heart’s content — even if it means skipping other subjects. I was never afraid to skip subjects so the child could pursue developing his creativity on something he liked. Resist the mindset of “we must get through the book/stay on schedule/finish the worksheets. Instead, practice the mindset of allowing the child to develop his creativity on projects he loves.
It seems that you have a good start with read mother read aloud. Now, it is a matter of deciding on and working on reinforcing the goals and values and skills that your children need to strengthen, the important things rather than everything. The thing that must survive through all your homeschooling is the love of learning.