Time commitments for class and clinicals at ACC?

[taffy48]

Any ACC students out there that can tell me the time commitment involved during class and clinicals for the ADN program?

Has anyone done these classes on line?

I applied for the Fall 2008 and am waiting to be notified.

In the meanwhile, I need to figure out what I need to be arranging for daycare. I will have four kids at home, a Junior who is very busy with extracurriculars, a 5th grader a 2nd grader, and a kindergartener.

Their Dad left so I am on my own.

How have other people worked out childcare arrangements? I am need some direction in how to arrange all this, and what is the going rate to to pay someone?

Also, anyone working while going to school? I looked into the GAIN program at Saint David's and Seton, but am unsure how I could arrange childcare,. Does anyone know how much these positions pay?

Thanks.

[editor2rn]

I'm not in the same situation since I have a supportive spouse and only one child. But my single-mom friends use after-school care programs offered through the school for their elementary-age kids. With middle school kids, they rely a lot on friends to help cart kids to and fro. I'd try to use the junior for babysitting as much as possible. But since those kids have such busy lives nowadays, I'd look around for someone in the neighborhood who could watch kids when you're doing evening clinicals, perhaps a college student or older high school student looking for extra money. They're not cheap, but the good ones are awesome--they'll even help with homework. My daughter has babysitters occasionally, and we've always been very selective and choose girls whose families we know and who are very interested in kids and good students. They're great role models.

Start asking around. Tell people your situation. I'm sure others have ideas.

Good luck!

[Austinite]

Hi guys,

I am just finishing up the online program, and I highly recommend it. We cover the same material as onsite, use the same texts as onsite, and still have access to instructors for questions. Some instructors even offer optional seminars for discussion. I did not feel like I lost out on anything. Oh, and you also still get to know all your classmates very well, so you're not on your own. Clinical schedules vary per instructor. Most groups have it twice a week from 7a-3p. It just depends though. At the beginning of each semester you have to show up for several different reasons including labs and orientations. Once those are out of the way, you only have to show up for exams. The upside with online is that you get a lot of flexibility in your scheduling, the downside is that your schedule is not very constant. Most of the gals I knew with little ones used home-ran daycare - they seem to be more flexible. I lucked out and qualified for assistance through the support center. I was given free daycare at the provider of my choice. If you are lower-income, look into it soooon!! Also, there were several people who worked the whole way through. Most of them didn't have kids, and most of them had it affect their grades. But, they made it through. It is a great program, and it will be over before you know it! Good luck!!