posted
I have orientation and registration in two weeks.
I'm seeking advice - anyone please feel free to give your opinions but I'd especially love to hear from anybody who did formal schooling while raising kids.
How many semester hours are reasonable? I want to take 12 (4 classes), but am afraid that's too much for my first semester back. (Last time I was in college was 15 years ago)
I am going to a community college, take all my freshman and sophomore classes that I haven't taken, or haven't gotten credit for in the transfer, then I'll transfer to a four year university for the last two years. Here are the classes I need to take at the community college:
English 101 - Composition (this is so silly - I tested out of this back in the days when I was a college freshman and went straight to the equivalent of Eng 102 - but when my transcript was evaluated they only gave me credit for 102)
History 101
Literature sequence, either American or British
2 Natural sciences other than biology
Pre Calculus Algebra
Pre Calculus Trig
Speech/Public Speaking
Computer Science 101 - data processing (might be able to test out of that one, gotta check with advisor)
Psychology 202 - Human Development
I've already done some college math, I've done Bio 101&102 plus labs, and I've got several social sciences and humanities courses. Those, plus the required courses above, will meet the general education requirements for elementary education. I've already confirmed that the classes I need will be accepted by the four year school.
Now - should I hold off and only take three classes? Should I try for four? (I really want to finish as quickly as possible, and if I take four classes per semester I can be at Jacksonville State Univ. for spring 2006 term. )
My husband wants me to take it easy, he actually suggested 2 classes this semester.
I would probably have two hours per week day that I could devote to studying during the day. In the evenings I could study from when the kids go to bed until I was too tired to keep going. Probably another three hours.
I want to take two classes on Saturdays, and two classes through distance learning/internet.
I think I can handle four, but maybe I'm overestimating myself. Anybody got any thoughts? Or advice?
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Okay -- I went back to school as a adult -- as a single parent of three kids, holding down a full-time job, as well (and a sometimes part-time one on the side).
You can do this.
Your homework time will be somewhat limited, depending on the neediness of your family, and some courses are more homework intensive than others. Consider that on the courses you pick. You might pick the least intensive ones the first semester to get yourself back into the "swing" of schooling, and to get your family to adapt to the idea.
I would still take as many hours as you reasonably can (12) because it is truly cheaper in the long run. Usually up to a certain # of hours is one basic price, or even if paying on a per-hour deal, you will have less associated "fees" if you take as many as possible each semester. Be sure to figure in the cost of your books, however, as that can break your budget.
I had exactly the same thing happen with the English 101 class when I went back -- they refused to recognize my "test out" and said I either had to take 101 again, or else take some OTHER basic course in order to log those 3 hours and have enough to graduate. It was stupid.
Understand that when you test out -- you just don't have to take that class. That doesn't give you the credit hours for that class -- so if they have XXX number of hours taken in order to graduate, you will have to take something else to meet that requirement.
From what you outlined, you will have more home study time that I did -- so I think you could do four easily.
posted
My mom's doing it! I'll ask her what advice she has and then come back to this thread over break. Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Boon
unregistered
posted
My advice, as someone who went to college while the kids were five and six:
For every hour you're supposed to be in class, plan on two more for homework and studying.
If it's been a while since you took a math class, start with one below what you think you know. You may not remember as much as you think.
A full load is actually easier to pull off than a half load. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's just that every class seems more important if you're going full time.
Get involved in one EC activity. But only one (or two if you just can not decide on one). You should be involved, but not overextended.
Take advantage of the discount theater and museum tickets while you can...egads, I miss those!
Um, don't hesitate to ask for help if you find yourself falling behind. Yes, you're an adult and should already know your limits, yadda yadda...but you're a paying scholar just like the seventeen year old beside you.
That's all for now. I'll think about this more.
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posted
Amen to Boon on the math class thing--if you haven't done so already, you might want to take a placement test or something to see how much you remember. I had a 3 1/2-year break between high school and college, and though I'd been taking college-level math in high school, when I finally started college I was completely appalled at how badly my math skills had atrophied. It all came back to me with a review course, it was just a matter of bludgeoning that part of my brain back to wakefulness. But that stuff sure vanishes fast if you're not using it every day.
Posts: 957 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Farmgirl you're an inspiration! Yes, if you did it as a single mom, then I can too.
I have some really big helps - my mother lives with us and really helps out a lot with the kids, and my husband is a math genius who can explain math to other people. (he was an engineering major, but when he came to UAB to finish his degree, he was told he was closer to a math degree than an engineering one - he only needed 6 hours for the math degree!)
I've also been doing my oldest daughter's algebra homework with her...just to get me back in the right frame of mind. It does come back to you! I've done better than I thought I would.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Belle, the best natural science I took was Intro to Meteorology. See if you can get that. We tracked hurricanes, colored pictures (temperature maps), and connected the dots (pressure maps). It was informative, relaxing, and fun.
Good luck. And don't get discouraged if you have to take something more than once. My mom had to take Algebra three times before she passed. She was ready to give up near the end of the third try when she thought she was failing, but now she has her AA and is starting on her BS.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Just to expand a little bit on what Farmgirl said -- you are a fast reader and a good writer. And I'm going to assume that you are a pretty good test-taker.
So classes in English and the social sciences you can probably juggle fairly easily -- if you have to let something slide for a few days or even a week, it won't be any big deal.
It's the classes in math and science that have regular homework and where knowledge builds from one week to the next that pose the greatest challenge.
While I was only 2 1/2 years out of high school when I started college, my math skills were shot. The semester I took my one math class (I took the assessment and they wanted me to go back to Algebra/Trig -- I found a loopwhole and took Statistics which at the time didn't have any prereqs) I also started working 20 hours a week, had an internship where I had to keep daily journals and had a total of 18 units. I survived, but I ended up not doing as well in Statistics as I should have because at one point I stopped doing the homework and then never was able to catch up.
Of course, class demands vary by professor, but if were you I would categorize the classes I needed to take and factor that into the equation.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Belle, congrats on continuing your education! I went to college as a 26 year-old freshman, so I definately know where you're coming from. During my freshman year my kids were 5 and 2, and I was a single mother as well (I got married the next summer). I know you will do well! I found I couldn't really take more than 15 credit hours a semester; otherwise life was terrible. In my opinion, it might be a wise idea to start out with 9, just to get back into the swing of going to class, doing homework, and managing a family all at the same time. Then the next semester you can bump up to 12 or even 15. However, whether you're taking 1 class or 4, I think it's great that you're going back to school.
posted
First of all, Belle, good for you! You're going to do great -- and I think you'll really enjoy it.
When I was in college with kids, I was more-or-less the usual college age, not going back. And my kids were small. But, when I did a research paper that involved interviewing other moms, and seeing what made them able to stick it out, I found only one common factor. (Not whether they had local family to help, not whether they had good child care, not the kids' age(s), not the mom's age, not whether they had good support systems, not whether this was their first shot at college -- ALL of those varied widely.) Determination. The ones who stuck it out were the ones who said things like, "I don't know how I do it. I just do -- because I have decided I'm going to."
Belle, you have strength of spirit and determination in spades! So you'll manage beautifully, regardless of how many classes you take. However, in the interest of nurturing that strength, I agree with Opera's suggestion of starting with 3 classes the first semester. You can always increase it to 4 the second semester, neh?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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English and social sciences don't concern me much - I excelled in them when I was in school before. Math and science, though - they scare me a bit.
My husband really thinks three is the way to go this semester - I can understand that, and I don't want to get in over my head. I think that's what I will do - register for three, and then go up to four in the summer session if all goes well.
Next fall, I should be able to go full time during the day, all my kids will be in school.
I'm so excited I'm pathetic. My husband told me I was actually acting giddy. I've had nothing but positive encouragement from everywhere, including here. And, I have my aunt as inspiration - she just graduated last year and is now in graduate school, and she started when she was 50. I really feel confident that I'm making the right decision to go back to school and chosen the right career.
I have one contact who is an elementary school librarian that I know through church, she has offered to help me, and the elementary school librarian at my kids' school has told me that she'd be available for questions anytime I had them (and she went through the same program I'm planning on going to, and not that long ago). She also offered to have me come and spend the day with her, shadowing her, to get some first hand experience. I'm going to do it as soon as I get a day where my hubby or mom can be home with the twins.
On top of that, my best friend is a reading coordinator for a school system nearby, and she also has offered any help I might need. So I'm surrounded with a great support system, and I'm looking forward to the process, as well as looking forward to the end result - having a job again!
My dream will be for me to be in a position where I'm making enough that wes can sell the plumbing company, and take a job in the fire dept. administration working eight hour days. (No more weekends and holidays and 24 hour shifts.) He's already been offered a position in training that he had to turn down, because he needs to keep the current schedule to have enough time to run the business. He's also considering teaching when he retires from the fire department - he'd be the most phenomenal math teacher. When my aunt was struggling with a graduate course, and panicking because she didn't have the math background to understand everything, she came over to my house and spent five hours with my husband - then went and made a 92 on the test. She said no one had ever explained things to her more clearly, and that he had a knack for getting difficult concepts across.
He does a lot of training and teaching in the fire dept. now, and is very good at it. Guess it's in the blood - his father was a math teacher for 30+ years.
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I've had nothing but positive encouragement from everywhere, including here. And, I have my aunt as inspiration - she just graduated last year and is now in graduate school, and she started when she was 50. I really feel confident that I'm making the right decision to go back to school and chosen the right career. 
