who's ever done an ou course look here and help me please

[elmoandella]

looking at taking an ou course.

how realistic is it with a 3 yo who starts nursery in april. and an 18 month old?? will i actually have the time to do it??

is it possible to actually do more than one course at same time. or is it more realistic to do 1 at a time and take a decade to actual get any half decent qualifications.

i'm looking to combine accounts with italian. it's been 10 yr since i got my highers though.

should i do the first entry ones to refresh (dont really want the expense) or is their refresher material at start of the courses that dive right into your subject?

Hi, I've just finished one of the Openings courses, having not studied for 16 years (I dropped out in 2nd year of uni). I have the equivalent of level 1 already, so will go straight to a level 2 course next, but think I could have managed a plain level 1 rather than an openings course to get back in the swing.

I would say that the openings course is as much about how to learn as what you learn. Frankly I found this irritating as I really wanted to learn more about the subject, and felt that I knew how to take notes/read etc..

As for time, I really struggled, but that's probably because I have a hundred things on my plate at the mo. You do have to be disciplined, and I couldn't work with my children around me (3 and 6), but everyone's different.

Perhaps do a 10 point level 1 course at £110/£140 rather than a big 30/60 pointer?

I started a 60 pointer course in September thinking that I would have loads of time to study. I am SAHM but fill my time to the max. Thought the 16 hours study requirement a week would be easy. Spent xmas worrying about my next TMA which had to be in in Jan. Spent most evenings studying as was busy during the day. Decided I was not enjoying it and have now withdrawn from the course. My story is just a word of warning on how much you can take on. I would suggest you don't take on two courses and start at a low level to see if you can really commit the time. I have wasted over £600 which I am not proud of but found the work too difficult and time consuming.
Good luck in what you decide to do.

I'm just finishing a 10 point level 1 course (10 weeks) and I found it was OK, but it was only supposed to require 4-6 hours' study a week. It was only £150 too. To be honest some weeks I did more, some weeks less. Mine was a creative writing course, though, so I'm not sure how that applies to a more full-on academic subject. I would really struggle with finding 16 hours a week.

Im a working single mum and I started with an openings course, and now on a level 1 course. I found it easy to fit in the openings course, but the level 1 is harder. saying that, im not enjoying the subject and put it off as much as possible!

Dont do too much in one go and put yourself off! Try an openings course, or similar, first, if nothing more than to see how much time you can realistically spend on it. If you want to do a level 1 course, apply well in advance and try for financial help too- I got my course free, plus a grant to help with costs. Tesco clubcard vouchers can also pay for courses if you dont qualify for financial help.

I'm doing a maths course which is equivalent to GSCE. It's worth 30 points and I think recommends 8 hours of study a week.

I already have A level maths so it should be easy but it's 20 years since I studied maths and although I've done distance learning in the past, I didn't work then or was part time; I now work full-time. It's also very much based around a graphic calculator and my learning curve for that is prettty much vertical, let alone steep!!

I really struggle to get my assignments done on time, and I only have to hand them in about every six weeks, so in theory there's lots of time to do stuff I should already know how to do.

I was sent a preparation pack to get me in the swing of things. I find the amount of books and materials included within the course is overwhelming, tbh, and for my course, it's not all necessary.

Waves to SueW, I am doing a 30 point maths course (MST121) and I also did the one SueW did (I'm guessing) last year (MU120). I am a SAHM, and both my children are at school. When I started my first maths course, dd2 was still doing pt nursery, and it was quite frantic. My day was drop dd1 at school, go home and play with dd2 and sort out the house, have lunch, drop dd2 to nursery, rush home, do some study, collect dd2, rush to school collect dd1.

Now, they are both at school full time it is so much easier. I would start slowly, and then see how you go. Studying with the OU can take a long time, it is much faster to go to a normal uni. However, you cannot beat the OU if you are a parent, because you do not have the childcare problems and expense.

You say your 3 year old starts nursery in April, but you have not mentioned whether s/he is doing full days or 2.5 hour sessions. If it is the latter, you will probably find that you are spending much of the day chasing around taking and collecting from nursery. 2.5 hour nursery sessions are a good taster for the child, but they are not for the convenience of the parent, so they are only a little help for the student parent.

My biggest bugbear with the OU is their over-reliance on February starts. If I want to do another maths course at level 2, there is only one start point, in February. This would mean that I would be studying during my children's 6 week summer break. For me, this is not an option. I want my children's summer holidays to be free for days out or visits to the park, not watching me study stuck indoors.

hmm..... my older dc is going to 1/2 day nursery for 4/5 days a week. he's feb birthday so starts in april. i also have an 18 month though..... i think i'm not going to manage a "proper" course iykwim until next summer when older dc will be going to school full time and dd will be starting nursery for her 1/2 days.

perhaps in meantime i shall see about doing the opening courses. in those 18 moths between now and next summer i could do the opening for 2 of my subjects to get a taster of which to study.

try and use tesco vouchers or get grant to do it. then i'm not wasting money i dont have if the courses are impossible with 2 dc under the ago of 3 atmo

I did a 60 point course when working full time. I did a survey of other students and the average amount of study time we did was actually 10-12 hours a week - so about 1.5 hours a day (ish) and some more when there were essays due. It depends how 'hard' the course is and if you have tutorials.

I am sure you can find a couple of slots in the day to do your reading. It just takes a bit of planning.

Good luck!

I wouldn't recommend taking on more than 60 points a year, although some people do manage it. I tried it in 2006/2007 and had to drop the second course because I couldn't hack it (perfectionist tendencies). At the rate of 60 points a year it will take 6 years to get your honours degree. I realise that sounds like a long time, but it goes surprisingly quickly.

i'm doing exploring psychology dse212 whic is 60 points.

I am enjoying it and have completed 2 assignments out of 6 (working on the 3rd)
I find the studying goes in fits and starts but do have monday nights as a regular where our babysitter comes and I go to our gym to study.

I don't work but have ds 1 - 4.9, ds 2 14 months and I am 4 months prgt with no 3. I am worried about the exam as I will be 8 1/2 months prgt but are rting my best on the assignments and are hoping just to pass the exam.

I have a BA(ed) so have studued before but this was 8 years ago so it did take a while to get back into. Loving it now though.

that's a good course muppet isn't it? did dse212 last year, then the online research project oct - jan and am just about to start ed209 (child development).... thought the exploring psychology was really well set up and interesting. word of warning.... if you have to do the online project or its residential equivalent then for the sake of your sanity do the residential! the online thing was AWFUL and soooooooo time consuming..... the residential is 5 days compared to 3 months of online misery..... good luck with it all.....

thanks controlfreak am wanting to do the child development in sept (after baby, did child dev as part of my degree so hoping it'll be pretty similar whilst I still have baby brain!) not sure about residential yet due to baby but thanks for tha advice, it's good to know form someone who's gone through it.

I did the first year of the OU law degree and then dropped out in the middle of the second year. My children were 5 and 8 at the time. I was trying to do 15 hours work in a 5 day week, leaving weekends work free.

I managed and actually got a distinction in the first year. Then DS(2) started having trouble at school and everything went pear shaped.

I found the fact that the courses run from Feb-oct difficult with school age children. I also found out later than alot of people do much less work.They just work towards the assignments. I was doing all the exercises as well.

i'm doing a 60pt level 2 course and i'm having to give it about 2hrs five nights a week, without interruptions.

i went straight in at level 2 as i have a degree already and also because my job requires a lot of the same skills as studying (note taking, skim reading, report writing, recall of facts).

fluffles. i've had baby brain for yr now. so i'd probably need to start level 1 at a min. thinking maybe even an introductory one to start with to see if the way of studying really suits me. wouldn't like to pay all that money for a course only to discover i cant get along with it and would be better of at a university or college

sorry should have been over 3.5 yr!!!! num lock!! see what i said about baby brain.

OU is hard work but their materials are better than anything I saw at college. Could you do a child swop with a friend to help you in assignment run up? I started with all good intentions but ended up being very strategic about points and courses. I think the point about the time going is imp. It took me a long time..had year gaps and I gave up on high flying...but I've got it now and it helped me qualify for PG course paid for by work. I do think if you can combine it with work it's much easier..especially if you can wrangle study time (and even fees). Good luck! I think having a vision of where you want to be and reminding yourself of it is important....and what the converse looks like, life six years on without the qualification.

i'm looking into accounts. as hopeful i can get pt admin role in accounts while i do my courses over the years.

well thats my plan. to come out with a half decent qualification while working in that enviroment.

I am doing a course

but even wtih two dc at school I struggle to fit in the work.

But it is rewarding to do

Be realistic about how you are going to fit in the study. I always allow study time and then some, becayuse if someone gets ill or depands my tieme in other ways I then have a back up plan

Hi muppetgirl I'm doing the same course too! Really interesting isn't it? I struggle to keep up as I work full time but when I find the time I enjoy the studying.

Probably just common sense but important to remember that 2 hours work needs at least 2 and a half hours elapsed time etc., in my case it needed about 3 hrs (make cups of coffee, potter about).

Hi
I finished my OU degree in June last year. I took my final exam when I was 6 months pregnant and had a 2 year old at the time. It is absolutely doable just takes commitment - if your kiddies are in a good routine then this is obviously ideal.

I started studying 9 years ago but had a 2 year break in the middle.

I tried to do 2 60 pointers at once but struggled and could only ever manage 1 60 pointer at a time and get a decent grade.

Good luck.

Hi guys i m doing this DSE212 too but i still have the dicussion to do on tma 3 grr ! did u guys name many researchers in intro/discussion i just put simons and levins, kahnemann, schneider and schiffrin, stroop and macdonald i m hoping that will give me enough to base my discussion around. Also, did u all find tht the participants took longer on colour-related than non-colour related? I did by about 6 secs! xx

You've had lots of good advice already. I started my OU course in 2003 with a 60pt level 1 course. The OU suggests about 100 hours study per 10 pts; this obviously varies on course and previous knowledge - for me this was a suggested 15 - 20 hours per week, but I had some background knowledge and was able to manage on about 10 hours a week. When I started my course I was a SAHM (still am,) my DS was 7 and my DD was 18m.

Studying with small children is perfectly possible. You have to learn to plan your time well - but as a mum I think we tend to have a headstart on multi-tasking . I sometimes found that if I got up to the children in the night and I was awake, it was a great time to study. Depending on your course you can take your books out and about with you too.

Studying over Summer can be a problem, but it's possible to work around it. I took my books to read wherever we went - so I could read on the bus, in the car, etc. I also made sure that I had at least two weeks totally clear so that we could have a family holiday with no TMAs. Can be tough - but can be done.

I am now in my last year of the Molecular Sciences degree (chemistry). It's been a long haul and difficult at times; and I've been fortunate to have the support of my husband and my mum (she was able to look after my children when I did residential schools). But it's been worth it - I'll have a 1st class honours degree at the end of all this work and then hope to go into teaching.

The long and the short of it is, yes you can do an OU course. It takes planning, commitment, determination and if you can get it, support from friends and familym but you can do it.

Good luck.