Timing of LPN School

Enchantress · Apr 5, 2009

I have decided to attend LPN school. I officially made the decision this week. Yeah! Now, I just have to figure out the right timing. I have a 13 yr old son, 11 yr old daughter, 9 yr old daughter, and 20 month old son. I am trying to fugure out if I should just pay for daycare for the little one and go in September or January to one of the two schools nearby that offer the program, or should I just enroll in two night classes for the fall while the baby is little and my husband can watch him, then go the fall of 2010 when he is three and can be in a pre-k class during the day?! It is a hard decision to make, especially since I am so anxious to be a nurse and do something I would enjoy, and that I would be proud of. The schools I am considering do not require pre-reqs, but I wanted to take A&P and nutrition in the fall to get a feel for the material I would be studying in school. Also, I was told you can receive more points in your scoring when you apply, if you already have some relevant classes under your belt. Any advice??

If you can afford daycare then do it as soon as possible...that way you can finish sooner and enjoy your career and your family. I don't fully know your situation, that's just my opinion. :)

BTW, my son is 4 and is in pre-k, but with the hectic schedule I still have to pay for before & after school care plus extra $ for a drop-off/pick-up service to get him to daycare...b/c the daycare is not open early enough for me to drop him off and make it to clinical on time.

If you start this fall you will be done by fall 2010, right?

Congrats on your decision! :yeah:

kendra1978 · Apr 6, 2009

Thank you for the support-I need to find out now what daycare costs. I wonder if I could get some sort of financial assistance with daycare? I may have to talk to the school to see if they have any suggestions.....

Enchantress · Apr 7, 2009

Thank you for the support-I need to find out now what daycare costs. I wonder if I could get some sort of financial assistance with daycare? I may have to talk to the school to see if they have any suggestions.....

You can get childcare assistance through DFACS...it's for parents in school and/or working, but they usually assist working parents first. You can put your name on the waiting list though.

If you are going to attend a college that has an Early Childhood Development/Education major, check to see if they have a daycare on campus. They usually offer childcare to children of students (ages 3-5).

I don't know the ins and outs of each so contact each entity for more information. Hope that helps! :)

ZanatuBelmont · Apr 7, 2009

I have decided to attend LPN school. I officially made the decision this week. Yeah! Now, I just have to figure out the right timing. I have a 13 yr old son, 11 yr old daughter, 9 yr old daughter, and 20 month old son. I am trying to fugure out if I should just pay for daycare for the little one and go in September or January to one of the two schools nearby that offer the program, or should I just enroll in two night classes for the fall while the baby is little and my husband can watch him, then go the fall of 2010 when he is three and can be in a pre-k class during the day?! It is a hard decision to make, especially since I am so anxious to be a nurse and do something I would enjoy, and that I would be proud of. The schools I am considering do not require pre-reqs, but I wanted to take A&P and nutrition in the fall to get a feel for the material I would be studying in school. Also, I was told you can receive more points in your scoring when you apply, if you already have some relevant classes under your belt. Any advice??

Hi, there is no time like tomorrow! Let's face it, children are more difficult as they get older, except for the ages 7-10 when they are the "play by the rules" kind of humans. If I were in your shoes, I would enter at my earliest opportunity! One year of your life and you become a middle-class worker in a field that is more recession-proof than a lot of other fields. =)

MattiesMama · Apr 8, 2009

Right now I'm going to day classes full time while my 2 year old is in daycare...I was lucky though, my parents let me move back in with them temporarily so the only bill I have to pay is the daycare, which is pretty much 100% of my income. In my state, there is no childcare assistance for students unless you are doing one of their approved programs...which are like CNA, customer service, etc. So I'm pretty much broke, but to me it's worth it...I can concentrate 100% on school, and being broke as a joke is teaching me to be thrifty Plus I just keep reminding myself that it's only 15 months out of my life! I don't know what would work better for your situation, but I would always lean towards going full time, just because if you are going part time and doing classes here and there it's easier to lose your motivation and it tends to just drag on and on...if you have a set timeline, it's more encouraging. I have a countdown written on every week of my planner, since I'm only one month in it's a little daunting to look at right now but I'm sure it will encourage me when I get further along :chuckle

Best of luck, whatever you decide! :nurse:

kendra1978 · Apr 8, 2009

Mattiesmama are you finding school extremely hard? Do you care to share some of your experiences with me as far as what to expect and that sort of thing?

MattiesMama · Apr 9, 2009

It's not as bad as I thought it would be actually! I tend to procrastinate so my biggest challenge has been figuring out how to budget my time...in the second week there were a couple exams that I totally put off studying for, and as a result was up untill 4am (and had to wake up at 5:45 the next day :bugeyes: ) and I quickly realized that there was no way I could do that for 15 months...so I'm getting much better about pacing myself and organizing my life so that I have time to study and do everything I need to do. It's definately a learning process!

What you can expect is-a TON of studying, at least one exam a week (this week we had 4, including a midterm!) a lot of frustration, being completely exhausted and occasionally wondering what the hell you have gotten yourself into...and since you have a toddler, if he's anything like my child expect him to scribble in all of your books, develop a fascination with your bookbag and scatter your papers and flashcards everywhere every time you look away for more than 5 seconds...and put teddy grams in your uniform pocket that fall out in front of your clinical supervisor :lol2: BUT if you know in your heart that this is what you are meant to do you won't regret it for one second. I have wanted to be a nurse for years and I have just kept putting it off because the timing wasn't right, or there was always something that got in the way....the reality is there will probobly never be a "perfect time" to do it, but the sooner you get it done the sooner you will be a nurse and that will give you more time in your career to build your skills, find your niche, further your education and become the best nurse you can be!