Lima beans and rice with left over ham. I had so much ham left over from Easter because we couldn't have guests. We usually have a big group. I took it out of the freezer this morning. :)

My family loves Seterra online map drills. https://online.seterra.com/en/ It doesn't cover presidents, but does cover the rest.

Thank you very much. This is encouraging.

Thank you! I found the WWS thread. Yes, that's VERY Helpful. I appreciate your reply.

I'm new here. I have a lot of questions so please bare with me if I'm long winded. My oldest son will be in 8th grade next year and we have homeschooled with a Charlotte Mason approach since the beginning. I've come to a fork in the road and I would appreciate any advice you can give. I've been stumped by writing; specifically, moving to the next step in compositions and moving into essays. He currently writes one written narration per day from a book he is reading independently. He does copy work in cursive and we practice dictation. His written narrations are good and detailed. I've shied away from most structured curriculum in favor of a more natural approach but now I see that I need something detailed and written out for me because I have no idea how to help him move forward. There is a chance he may attend a public high school after 8th grade so I want to make sure he can write a logical essay, putting his own thoughts on paper. I've been investigating IEW. However, I've just not been able to wrap my mind around what my goal is (or should be) for a writing program...until today. I listened to SBW's free audio lecture A Plan for Teaching Writing: Focus on the Middle Grades. This was exactly what I needed. It finally clicked. My hang-up with IEW has been I don't want him to "dress up" his writing before he knows what he actually thinks about a subject, and I don't want him to mistake the tricks for the trade, if that makes sense. I've not read Well Trained Mind, but I will soon. I've looked at Writing with Style and I'm thinking of starting him on this next school year. Any suggestions for an 8th grader starting at Book 1? I think he will grasp the concepts quickly. (I may be wrong, but we shall see.) If so, is there any reason for us to work through the lessons more quickly than the suggested time frame? I would appreciate any suggestions you have from experience with this program. I feel like a fish out of water, leaving the CM philosophy in the dust but I feel this is a move we need to make.

What is OM History 7? - Never mind, I figured it Out :)

We added solar panels two years ago, enough to cut our power bill down by 75%. It was an investment that's paying for itself. I've never heard it harms birds, I've not seen any evidence of this personally. We have feeders, lots of birds and I've not found any dead.

Slache, I was not raised in a Christian home but became a Christian as an adult. I have often struggled with how to share my faith with my children in a meaningful way, not preach or pushy. I want to recommend a book by Andrew Murray called Raising Your Child to Love God. I can't recommend it high enough. It helped me find peace and faith in that area. It is currently OOP but there are many copies around and at one time it was free on Google Books under the title of The Children for Christ. I hope this helps.