Hi Deanna!
Great question! I use the books my son reads to inspire critical thought. To be specific, he just finished reading the entire "Gregor" series by Suzanne Collins. This is a heavy-ish topic (war) and we have had alot of discussions about the topic and his thoughts about the book "beyond the page".... Have you children read this series?
What do all of you other homeschoolers do? Please share!