Showing posts with label Childcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Childcare. Show all posts
Crystal
Less than a month until classes start! It all still feels very unreal. Well, except for the part where our babysitting just backed out. That feels very real, and sends me into a bit of a panic. I don't know what we are going to do. It isn't easy to find someone to take care of three children for the hours of this particular program. I guess we just keep looking and holding with the thought that everything will work out.

At this point I can't help but feel very sorry for my children. They didn't ask to be put in this situation, and their lives are about to change in ways they never could have anticipated. They have never had to get up for school extra early and then been dropped off at childcare. And, Thursday nights they will likely not see us at all for the next 18 months. This is going to be really tough.
Crystal
In the mail this weekend was a letter addressed to me from Columbia University in New York. Puzzled, I opened the letter, and became somewhat more confused. It seems this school would like to offer me a spot to further my education, due to my academic excellence. Washington to New York, that would be quite the commute. I guess it's an honor to have colleges interested in me, it's just taken me a bit by surprise. Is this because I am on the Dean's list? And if so, why weren't the interested in me while I was on the Presidents list?

I did much better than I anticipated on my first A&P 2 exam, no thanks to the boob of an instructor. Should anyone out there be heading to Pierce College in Wa, I would be happy to share the boobs name so you can avoid the ridiculousness I am experiencing.

Nutrition is going great. Maybe not quite as much of a slacker class as I was anticipating. Certainly nothing near the level of instesity of all the other science classes I have passed through. If nothing else, I am getting the opportunity to view some movies that I had been interested in seeing, just never got around to before. So far we have watched Fast Food Nation, an interesting and at times funny movie, though it would be easy to drive a mack truck through his "study". This week we started Lorenzo's Oil. Another movie I have heard great things about. We only watched the first half, and I came home eager to see if it happened to be playing on any of the channels we receive. As luck would have it, it is playing this week, but on a channel we don't receive. I guess I'll be waiting for next Saturday.

Now that Cameron is attending his second semester of campus childcare I feel that I can give a fair review of our experience there. First, the cost is great, and they accept child care assistance and offer small scholarships to families that don't receive child care assistance. They feed them several times a day, and parents are encouraged to drop in betwee classes to eat with their child, on the schools dime. They try very hard to maintain a family friendly environment, and also have a study area for parents to hand out between classes. In the study area you will find comfortable chairs and tables, wireless internet for those with laptops, and computers for those without. Snacks and beverages are also provided. there are children attending the center with severe food allergies so no one is allowed to bring in any food or drink. The staff is wonderful, very warm and caring to the kids. They take the time to really get to know each child and make sure they are having a good time. My one complaint is that the staff is supplemented with various students as work study positions. Some of these parents have been less than stellar. Huge plus to the staff, when I have brought up concerns arising from the work study people, the staff has been right on top of it. I love that they take pictures and fill out a folder letting me know about special things my child did while I was in class. The kids go outside every day, no matter the weather, and are often taken outside the play yard to go on nature walks. Another great feature of the child care center is that they plan monthly activities for families to participate in, usually free or very low cost. We have participated in a family gymnastics night, including free pizza and drinks and very cheap tickets to Northwest Trek. Next month there is going to be something at the Seattle Science Center, this month they had a family movie night that included a craft, popcorn and drinks and a new release movie. Your campus Child Care Center is your friend, at least it is at Pierce.

Crystal
I've officially dropped my early morning class and am taking chemistry at the campus further away in the afternoons. The upside, it is a 4 day a week class instead of 5. Now I just have to cross my fingers that there wont be any last minute hiccups with Camerons daycare/ preschool. We have orientation for Cameron tomorrow morning.

Our fall quarter schedule will be:

Monday~

  • 8- 9am Mike Chemistry, Cam preschool
  • 8:40am I drop older kids at school
  • 9- 10am Mike and I have Anatomy and Physiology
  • 10-12pm A&P Lab
  • 12pm I hop in my truck and head for the other campus. Mike has 2 hour lunch/ study time
  • 1- 2pm My Chemistry class
  • 2-4:30pm Mike Statistics
  • 2:30pm I pick Cam up from preschool
  • 3:15pm I pick kids up from school and head home

Tuesday~

  • 8- 9am Mike Chemistry, Cam preschool
  • 8:40am I drop kids off at school
  • 9- 10am Mike and I have A&P
  • 10 am Mike heads to work study, possibly me too
  • 1- 2pm My Chemistry class
  • 2:30pm Cam from preschool
  • 3:15pm Kids from school

Wednesday~

  • 8- 9am Mike Chemistry, Cam preschool
  • 8:40am I drop kids at school
  • 9- 10am Mike and I have A&P
  • 10- 12pm A&P lab
  • 12:30pm Mike picks up kids from school (half day every Wednesday)
  • 1- 2pm My Chemistry class
  • 2- 4:30pm Mike Statistics class
  • 2:30 Cam from preschool

Thursday~

  • 8:30am Mike drops Cam at preschool
  • 8:40am I drop kids at school
  • 9- 10am Mike and I have A&P
  • 1- 3pm Mike and I both have Chemistry lab, at different campuses. Mike grabs Cam
  • 3:15 Mike picks kids up from school

Friday~

  • 8- 9am Mike Chemistry, Cam preschool
  • 8:40am I drop kids at school
  • 9am Mike heads to work study
  • Friday will be my study day and the day I set aside to do my online class.
  • Afternoon sometime Mike will pick Cam up
  • 3:15 I pick kids up from school

It's going to be a busy 10 weeks. I can do anything for 10 weeks right?

My books cost about $600 this quarter, $330 covered by my grant and the rest out of pocket. A&P books are stupid expensive! $180 for the text and another $130ish for the lab manual. So much for having enough monies to get a few new supplies.

My dad gave me this for my birthday. I can't wait to try it out on my classes this quarter. I'll be sure to share here once I start uploading notes/ lectures.

Crystal
I have about 24 hours to decide what I'm going to do about my fall quarter schedule. Finding someone to take the kids to school in the morning is proving to be very difficult... maybe even impossible. So, I have double enrolled in a second chemistry class. If I can't find childcare today then I will be forced to let go of my first choice class and take the second one... at another campus 25+ miles away. Which leads to it's own set of problems....

I'm really dreading the start of this quarter.
Crystal
Wahoo! My first quarter back is done!! And, if I may pat myself on the back (since no one in real life has offered so much as a *good job*), I met my goal of a 4.0!

I should be starting working on my medical terminology class now, it's a self paced class and I can see that this will put me at risk for not being as motivated to get stuff completed. Chem 100 (baby chem as my bio professor called it) and Math 140 (formerly 281, how weird is that?) Statistics start next week. While I'm not looking forward to those classes, I am looking forward to checking them off the to-do list.

It looks a though Mike and my schedules only overlap one day a week, and only for a couple hours. That makes finding childcare easier, especially since I have two teenagers chomping at the bit for the opportunity to babysit.

I'm pretty sure I've decided against the LPN and then bridging idea. There is still the chance that I wont be selected at my top two schools and that my 3rd choice school may offer me a slot in their fast track LPN with a guaranteed spot to bridge upon completion.

So, kinda funny story from chatting with my Bio professor last week. We were talking about how Mike will be taking his class this summer, this lead to him asking what I was taking. When I told him Chem 100 he started making fun of me... but in the nicer way of telling me that I didn't need that class and would be more than fine taking chem 101 (which has also been renumbered, but I can't remember if it was to 130 or 140...) So I let him know that chem 101 wasn't offered in the summer, but I was taking it in the fall. He tried to convince me I would be a better fit for taking chem 102 this summer, without 101 than I would be in the baby chem class. He he. Here's to hoping it's an easy A.
Crystal
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Found this in my mailbox on Friday! Hopefully I'll know how much money they are going to help with when I go in for my registration appointment with them next week. I believe they are also going to pay for on site daycare for Cameron, maybe the older two also if needed. And they set up an account at the bookstore for any supplies or books I may need!