Has anyone here ever done correspondence university with kids home?!?

[wanderinggypsy]

This September, three out of my four kids will be going to school, and I will be at home with the baby, my two year old son. I really want to get to work finishing my BA, and it would take me about two years as a full time student. I would have four courses on the go most of the time, but sometimes five as for a couple of semesters I would really have to ramp things up to keep ahead of schedule. 

I guess I'm trying to figure out what my life would look like if I go for it. The kids go to school from 8:20 am to 2:40 pm. I think I might be best inclined to keep my focus on the baby and on the home and on meal preparation and stuff during the school day. Then perhaps try and get a really early bedtime in place for the kids (like 7 for the littles, 8 for the older ones with the understanding that they can read quietly for a while. Then I could count on working on school from 8-12 at night. Would that be enough, augmented by some reading/notetaking during the day?

Gah, I don't know. I really want to make this work. How have any of you made it work? And I really can't just do one course at a time. I have long term goals that kind of hinge on finishing this BA within a couple years so that I can start full time at a local university when  my baby starts kindy in two years. That's how I can get my MA...

Any words of wisdom for a student mama to be?

[jessemoon]

I'm working on my PhD through a hybrid distance/face-to-face program. I spend two weeks in the summer in an on-campus residency and the rest of the year is online.  I was skeptical, but it's working fine.  I'm super busy, but it's working.  I don't work well at night, so I do my homework on the days that kids are at school and I don't work (I work two days a week) and save housework for the evenings.   We eat more quick meals than we used to and my house is not as clean.  I couldn't do it without family support.  My husband is really supportive and helpful.  My kids are 4 and 7. 

It's a different kind of school experience, but so far, so good.  Good luck!

[guatemama1]

I'm not in the exact same situation but I've been doing an online master's program for the past year+ and now have a newborn... I find the experience to be very flexible because I can literally do my work anytime anywhere. I'm only a few weeks into this semester now with the kiddo and it has thrown my regular study habits and schedule for a major loop!! However, I find it do-able. While I do not have other kids to tend to, I do have extremely irregular and terrible internet so that makes things... uh.. challenging! I recommend making a good "study space" for yourself. Time you may not be able to structure how you like, but I find the "space" to be very helpful in getting my head together and focused - even if it's just a half hour or so before I must get back to baby :) Good luck!!

[SallyN]

I've attended a fully-online graduate program in order to get my teaching certification. When I started, I had a very high needs toddler. I was not able to get the ~20hrs a week of schoolwork in with her at home, so supplemented with sending her to a trusted care provider at first for 2hrs a day and eventually for 2 full days a week. I took two years off once DD2 joined us (and we moved twice, once out of state). With a 4yr old and a 2yr old at home, again I wasn't able to get the hours in. But with the flexibility of my program, I sent the girls to full-day trusted care provider for 2-3 days a week.

It was really hard. Probably mainly in the self-motivation area. But the flexibility was awesome. I don't think I could have managed the schedule and inflexible logistics of a brick & mortar school.

[olliemi2005]

I took a bunch of online classes with 2 kids under 4. I did pretty much what you describe you plan on doing. I also took a few night classes one at at time- these were challenging with labs. Lots of weekend days in the library alone.

[beebalmmama]

I'm taking part course work right now with one little one at home (1.5 yrs) and my other is at school. One of my classes is a weekend class (Fri night and Sat morning) and the other is online.  So far I'm studying every minute of ds's 2 hour nap and I need it. I'm also studying a few hours on Saturday after class. I'm trying to keep Sunday and evenings free for family, but I know I'm going to have to step it up in the evenings to stay on top of it. My weekend class is Anatomy and physiology if that makes any difference on work load.

[Shantimama]

I found it really hard but also had many other things going on at the same time that required huge amounts of my time and energy.

[amydidit]

I've tried distance school and it was not a good fit for me. And that was without kids too. I don't learn well unless I'm IN the classroom. So that's something to think about. Are you the type of person who will be able to learn without the in person experience? Not everyone is.

[cameragirl]

My husband and I take online college courses through a local JC. For me, it is a good fit because I do not have to go to campus and can work on the lessons when I choose. I took this year off to focus on DD's homeschooling since it is the first year, and next semester we'll be having another LO.