any tips that help this first time online student...

Ok, I know you might not want to hear this, and you certainly didn't ask for my story but.... I have two grand daughters(11 months and 10 months), my daughters, my two sons and a house that is at 90 decibals at all times. I, like you also work three 12 hour shifts. This is a great advantage over most people. The fact that we have four days off is a HUGE benefit. The only way I have found to study in PEACE is to get up early and go to bed late. Others may advise you to go to the library, or go to the basement. I UNDERSTAND that is not at all possible when you are responsible for small children that like to get into things! An hour early and an hour late on your days off=8 hours of study time. If you can get some in between, well, that's a bonus. Good Luck!

Good idea! Thanks a lot.

Ok, I know you might not want to hear this, and you certainly didn't ask for my story but.... I have two grand daughters(11 months and 10 months), my daughters, my two sons and a house that is at 90 decibals at all times. I, like you also work three 12 hour shifts. This is a great advantage over most people. The fact that we have four days off is a HUGE benefit. The only way I have found to study in PEACE is to get up early and go to bed late. Others may advise you to go to the library, or go to the basement. I UNDERSTAND that is not at all possible when you are responsible for small children that like to get into things! An hour early and an hour late on your days off=8 hours of study time. If you can get some in between, well, that's a bonus. Good Luck!

I definitely use the stay up late and get up early.

I would set specific times during the week that were completley dedicated to school work. Maybe bring the kids to a babysitter, or while they are napping that way the house is quiet and you can spread your books and papers out without being disrupted.

Good luck!!

Snickers0417: Got my babysitter lined up. What I'm also trying to figure out how long should these blocks of time be? I guess it will just be trial and error in the beginning. I'm gonna start out with 6 hour blocks. I want to be productive and not "waste" time trying to concentrate if the block of time is too long.