Hello! I'm a New England mom of two little boys, ages 1 and 4. I've been reading on the WTM forums for a few years now and I'm eager to put all the wonderful knowledge you all have shard to work as I get my eldest ready to start school over the next few months!

Numbers 5 and 8 in the OP do not add up. You are in lots of debt, and your proposed solution to that is to take on more debt? That is not going to land you in a better position in the long run, even the higher salary will be outweighed by the increased debt. And you won't get SLs at reasonable rates if you have a history of missed payments. The only groups willing to loan to you will be those trying to take advantage if you. And just a reminder, SL debt is not discharged in bankruptcy, so avoid piling on any more of that. My advice would be to increase income- I assume a farmhand is working less during the winter and has time for a second job. Or can you take a holiday retail job for just a few weeks without jeopardizing your SS requirement? The most positive thing in the OP was that your farm is not underwater. Selling that at the highest price possible, possibly as a short sale, may be a tremendous positive to your overall financial picture. If there are really no other options, it will come down to bankruptcy. You should start doing research now so you know if you get to the point it's worth getting a good lawyer. It is an unfortunate truth that medical costs are the number one cause of bankruptcy in this country. Please don't beat yourself up over it.

I heard it would graze the seaboard with rain, but that there was the potential to become a big storm if it met with cold arctic air.

I also remember something like this from school.

Our blendtec makes smoothies and milkshakes fine. I don't know what OP means about using multiple containers. You just dump it all in, liquid on bottom, and go.

I can't imagine if my parents had stalked my grades in school, esp HS. They were very laid back, and I was an eager student, so it must have worked. I vote As and Bs.

Peel and freeze bananas ( must be overripe so they are sweet ). Toss into blender or food processor with a few Tbs if cocoa powder. Add a bit of milk if necessary. Yummy chocolate ice cream!

I think you should go into depth on topics within each science subject, even if you do opt for the first option (survey). For example, really get into the Krebs cycle in biology, to the point she can draw the diagram on a blank chalkboard by memory. Then in Chemistry the next year, she can get into some of the molecular structures of these same chemicals, that way the material builds year to year and she gets some depth that a student in a survey class would not. You can choose a few topics to do this with, DNA transcription and translation, photosynthesis/light cycle, NAD/NADH, ADP/ATP and some simpler ones. All these cycles only 'turn' because there are differing levels (gradients) of each chemical present in the same part of a cell, and figuring chemical change rates with different concentrations of reactants is typically a chapter covered in chemistry. You can do the same with chemistry to physics, studying how electron movement creates electrical flow in a wire, then in physics studying how circuits work and electromagnets. You can probably find some more overlap between subjects by looking at the table of contents in the textbooks. I imagine gr 9 phys sci will overlap more with algebra than the other sciences, but I may be wrong. As someone who took many high school and college science courses (science geek!), I can tell you those processes I listed above were hit on time after time in bio and chem courses. I wish I had really understood the cyclical nature of those processes the first time, instead of finally getting there in my 300- level university classes.

In High School, the typical science track is gr 9- biology, either regular or honors, gr.10- chem, regular or honors, gr.11- physics, regular or honors, and gr12- elective, which would be AP bio, chem, or physics (or maybe two science APs for very science-inclined students). I would treat gr 9 as biology honors if I were you. If dd is really into biology, she'll jump at the chance to do it twice during high school. Have her take the SAT -II for Bio at the end of this course, that will help place her in Advanced Intro Bio in college if she decides to go that route in college. If she passes the AP later, she can totally skip a semester of college intro bio. (That's how it worked for me, I assume they still do SAT-IIs, etc)

This is basically how it works at my real-world job! :) I hear you on your vent, and I'm not trying to be facetious. Just funny.

Remembering my AP and college experiences, yes, AP course are generally at least as rigorous as intro college classes. One difference is that you take an AP course over the full year, whereas college courses are generally by semester. 1000 -level college courses are often considered a joke, or for non majors. Most of my AP course credits placed me out of the first of three intro courses in a sequence, ie. general chemistry. You would take the three intro gen chem courses, them the intro organic chem series, then a couple other chem courses just for your chemistry requirement in a major of Biology, so non placing out of the first course added another semester to your college load. Same with other long sequences, like math.

Duplicate, sorry!

Is there any way to hire a mothers' helper to watch the tot and play with him for several hours during the day? Either a HS teen or even one of the 'church ladies' at your church? Can you use the two days a week your H is off to do two days of HS? You need some help. You deserve to feel in control enough to feel sane.