My oldest doesn't like being told what to create, so I never made her do the coloring sheets in history, science, or language arts. Buy my other child loves to do those same sheets. The amount of flexibility varies based on whether they seem to understand the concepts. Sometimes I have them do more if they have buzzed through a lesson or if they have had a hard time understanding the concept. But other times, if one of my children is having a hard time, we actually do less because we have both had enough.

I have also found that in some lessons K¹² has designed more material than in others. If we feel overwhelmed by activities or worksheets, we skip some of them if the objectives have been met. Other times, the lessons are easy to get through without skipping, or the activities are cool so we do them all!

It also depends on the specific day. If things are going well, we do more activities. If we get hung up on a subject, or the children are dawdling through their lessons, or it's a day of many distractions then we do fewer activities.

Sometimes we may skip an activity, sometimes we may do the optional activity (either in addition to, or instead of the activity), or sometimes I may adapt an activity to meet my child’s individual needs.

Sometimes the optional lessons serve as enrichment activities. We use these when my child has the previous concepts mastered and wants to take it further. We sometimes use the optional lessons as practice when my child hasn’t quite understood the objectives. Generally, we don’t spend time practicing a concept if my child fully understands it. Also, within many lessons there is room for both enrichment and more practice activities.

Here are some examples of how I sometimes adapt activities to fit my own children’s needs: