Reading out loud....getting it done

Have you ever looked at your school schedule and wondered how on earth you were going to get all that reading done? Maybe the books are too advanced for the child to read on their own or maybe you are moving your kids through the subject together so need to read it aloud as a group.
This year I will have 2-7th graders, a 6th, 4th, 2nd and Kindergartner plus a 3 year old and toddler. I've used the free online curriculum Ambleside Online since the beginning but have decided this year for the sake of simplicity to combine everyone to the same History rotation and use TruthQuest History guides.
These changes will require that I gather all of the 6 older children together in one place and have their relative rapt attention while reading our chapter or book in history.
The problems that I have experienced in trying to get this done have been as follows: morning - toddler distracting, best time to do the 3 r's; afternoon - little ones need naps, chores need doing, mom can't stay awake to read for more than about 10 minutes! evening - supper to clean up and frankly with hubby working 2 jobs I am e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d........
So finally after much prayer and much trial and error we have finally hit on a method that works.......for now.

Insert: Mealtimes
Now the caveat to this method is that my dear husband is not able to join us for breakfast or lunch M-S and at least 2 nights a week is at his night job and not able to be with us for supper. Which means that our mealtimes can be utilized for our read alouds.
Food=quiet children
Not only are my kids occupied with eating, my toddler is lovingly strapped into his booster seat happily munching away. This means that we can spend part of our mealtime in reading. Mornings and Lunches we often read poetry and have our bible time and in the evening we can read our history books.
Problem solved.......for now.

If you've ever had the problem of your wall maps falling off of your walls then you need to try these. I have both the world and U.S.A maps posted on our dining room walls. Works great for times like tonight at supper when we were reading about the revolutionary war and could point to the map and find the places we have been reading.