Student parent support thread - New for Sept. 2010

[MiaWallace]

Starting a new thread for a new academic year.

Previous thread here

If you are currently studying a course or about to start one (at any level) please come and join us. We offer each other support, tips and encouragement, plus we use the thread as a means of procrastination

We started off the previous thread with a short introduction so here's mine -

I'm 30 years old. Recently married with a 5 year old dd. I completed my degree in Education studies in July and I'm about to start my primary PGCE in September.

Oh of course! I forgot we've got e-books and an online search from home thingy! Will look up that book as well, thank you. It's very interesting, I've found a couple of papers on the subject but, they're academic, so very, very wordy.

Why write a sentence when you can ramble on for a paragraph eh? I swear they all do it just to meet their word counts!

oh, god, no... i write thousands more than i need and have to cull for days.

i always pine for the bits i've had to lose. (and wonder if they would have got me any extra marks...)

Haha, I know madwoman, it's just a phrase I started using in college when I had to study media theorists who would write a load, then the tutor would sum it up in a sentence :)

where are you all then?

we've been having our kitchen renovated and have had no kitchen at all for three weeks, so everything is piled up around the house. i haven't been able to get downstairs to the desk/ files - eek. but it's finished!

i'm moving everything back in tonight and hitting the books tomorrow - i've got a list of things as long as my arm that i've made a note of, to dig out or add to a file, and loads of stuff on the laptop that needs printing and checking.

is everyone tooooooo busy? what are you up to?

how did your assignment go lollipop?

proles, noticed you are getting your personal statement together - is it done?

Hi,
I'm a 30yo mum DS is 7.
I started an openings course with The OU in sept & i've enjoyed it that much i've just registered to do a degree in Childhood and Youth Studies. I suffer from Menieres disease which has caused hearing loss so studying online is brilliant for me. I also work voluntarily in DS' primary school twice a wk.
I didn't realise there was a forum for student parents so I look forward to speaking to you over the coming months:)

did you speak to the applications people? nothing is impossible!

yes, total nightmare re kitchen - i've been eating junk and take away for weeks, desperately need home cooked something!

anngeree - hi! childhood and youth studies sounds good, especially with your voluntary experience too. are you aiming for something in particular or just following interests? dd2 is 7 - i am beyond thrilled that they are all at school now!

Hi all,

I started an Access course and my GCSES in Sept but it all got a bit much for me so just doing my gcses maths and English then next sept will be doing history and 'not sure' .

I've just turned 24 and have a dd who is 3.3yo and a ds who is 2.1yo.

proles, it sounds perfect - sometimes you just have to stop procrastinating and get stuff done. (i'm pretty sure some of my stuff has ended up in a 'Missed The Point Entirely' file... in fact i know one particular 1st yr undergrad essay did. the burning shame has mostly eased now )

what's this TMA? have you got everything to hand to write it up, or have you not started researching yet?

hi bangbang (sorry - can't call you shitty.) i have a friend who sat her maths gcse 17 times but eventually passed it (she wanted to teach re...) so i do feel your pain. everything is more difficult with littlies, too. have you got an eventual goal in mind?

i have words with myself regularly. i often get the impression that i'm not really listening, though...

my 'week off' has now been cut to two days, one of which i'm doing a 6 hour round trip to customs to release stuff from shipping. so i'm having a 'feeling sorry for myself' half hour. must learn to say 'no'.

weather? last week it was -30/40 most of the week. bit warmer this week, but we still have about a foot of snow, with more falling most days.

and today the visibility is shocking, and we're just about to set off on that 6 hour trip... so might take longer lol. ho hum.

i'm working on the Cunning Plan. it was supposed to start today, on my first week off since may. am supposed to be going back onto week on/ week off. that's my Cunning Plan. unfortunately, the 'week off' bit doesn't seem to have appeared yet... i might have to develop a Standby Cunning Plan involving working in the evenings - which i can do if i'm studying during the day as well, but it's so hard to start completely cold once the kids are in bed.

evening all.

not been on for a few weeks. My nanna died on 5th nov so have been not about so much, had family staying etc etc.
Am now trying to get back to normal. I was given an area of concern for my pgce last week. am hoping to have it lifted this week. Am feeling more like myself now family have gone home and funeral is done etc etc. HAve done tonnes of work over past week to try and get everything sorted out.

Mad wman where are you?

It has started snowing here an hour ago, could be a snow day for me tomorrow. Even if the school is open I don't knwo if i can safely get there, will see how it is in the morning.

Hi madwomanintheattic,
I decided to do a degree in Childhood & Youth studies because I'd love to work with children with special needs and a lot of the modules seemed to fit in with that. I trained & worked as a Nursery Nurse after leaving school then went on to work in a care home for adults with learning difficulties but have been a SAHM for the last 7yrs so I haven't done any recent training. Just thought OU would be a good way to re-train exercise my brain a bit & fit workload around family life. Voluntary work is giving me the experience I need aswell the class teacher has me working with children who need additional support.

anngeree, that sounds very focused! (and a subject close to me as dd2 has cerebral palsy and has had a number of brilliant professionals work with her )

dylsmum - so sorry to hear about your nanna, the stress of everything will have had an impact on your study, too. did you let college know? hopefully they will be sympathetic, too. (i'm in canada btw, southern alberta.)

madwoman that explains why you have had so much snow then

I have told the uni and the school I'm on placement with, they allowed the time off but don't seem to understand how much the time off etc affected everything. Ho hum as it has snowed here and my sons school is closed, btu the one I'm on placement in is open I will be redoing this placement as will be having more time off!

oh bless you. what a nightmare.

you know, it will all be ok in the end. a repeat placement isn't the end of the world, as long as you have mit circs to back up, which you do. it's frustrating, but will be ok.

thank you, I can redo the placement, I won't have to do it all again, just make up for the missed days, but it does mean I'll miss some uni days which explain everything, assignments etc. Frustrating but I'll manage!

Hi, can i join? im 24. have 3ds's and expecting dc4. im currently doing an HND and pulling my hair out with all the assignments due in atm. i know, i know i prob shouldnt be moaning about it and just getting on with it but really had enough and brain is about to explode! and breath

Does anyone know what the different percentage marks for tutor marked assignments mean with the Open University? I know 40% is a pass but that's it.