Foundation Degree

[rainbowmummy]

why is it you all seem to know what you are talking about??

Well passed TMA02, same mark as TMA01 which is sad as I thought I was getting better! Still a pass is a pass.

So how are you all getting on with the observations. What areas are you covering? I am doing play... I think!!!

Good luck

[rainbowmummy]

hi
there seems to be alot of u doing the OU degree, do u mind me asking how much it has cost u? is it better doing it at home or do u think oit would of been better going to uni/college.
i am interested in doing it, but this thread is putting me off, is it hard?

I am funding myself at present as I am also doing the final year of the DHC and my local authority wouldn't pay me to do two courses, i paid £650 with OU.

Is it hard... Yes and No. I am struggling to find the time to fit everything in, you need a very supportive family around you. The OU recommends 12-15hrs a week of study time. I am very lucky is I get 10hrs!
Plus I have found that the style of writing for a level four course much trickier to master.
Please don't be put off, everyone is different and if you find your grove I am sure you'll love it I am finding out things that are interesting and useful.

[polly0]

I am doing play too, just reading through the study topics at the moment, not done any obs yet. I also passed TMA2 but a slightly lower mark than the 1st one but a pass is a pass.

[Happy Monkeys]

Hi,
Has anyone done, or started doing the Foundation Degree in Early Years, APEL EZL100 Module through Open University.

Is it harder than you expected? I like the idea of getting it over and done with quickly.

Thanks.
Lynda

[julie w]

I was just wondering (and being nosey really!!) what everyone wants to do when they have their degrees. I always regret not going to uni and I think I would like to have a degree, but where to go from there? Maybe be handy when the day comes and I want my home back and I can look further afield. What do you all think?

[manjay]

I was just wondering (and being nosey really!!) what everyone wants to do when they have their degrees. I always regret not going to uni and I think I would like to have a degree, but where to go from there? Maybe be handy when the day comes and I want my home back and I can look further afield. What do you all think?

I am doing it for ME!!!!! I too have always regretted being enticed away from school with a job opportunity described as "too good to miss"! I attend uni part time rather than OU but I am absolutely loving it. My practice has changed immensely already and I surprise myself quite often with the knowledge that I have picked up already. At the moment I love being my own boss and can't see myself ever wanting to be employed again but I may change my mind on that one when my youngest gets older. In all honesty I think I could probably be a full time student

[The Juggler]

I am doing it for ME!!!!! I too have always regretted being enticed away from school with a job opportunity described as "too good to miss"! I attend uni part time rather than OU but I am absolutely loving it. My practice has changed immensely already and I surprise myself quite often with the knowledge that I have picked up already. At the moment I love being my own boss and can't see myself ever wanting to be employed again but I may change my mind on that one when my youngest gets older. In all honesty I think I could probably be a full time student

No, Manjay! Really! Although I've loved the learning, I hate the homework and assignments with a vengeance, mainly cos they eat into family time. I would do it again in a heartbeat for how it's changed my practice but I couldn't be a full=time student Good for you though!

I've just been looking at my obs. this week and thinking it's so totally amazing to see what they are doing and thinking and their thought processes - so exciting!

[Pipsqueak]

I was just wondering (and being nosey really!!) what everyone wants to do when they have their degrees. I always regret not going to uni and I think I would like to have a degree, but where to go from there? Maybe be handy when the day comes and I want my home back and I can look further afield. What do you all think?

I am doing this for me, to prove to myself that I am not the failure that the teachers at school said I would be. To show myself that I CAN do this.
I am throughly enjoying it although the amount of family time it has taken is untrue but I keep thinking of the future. I only recently aquired the confidence to do stuff like this - in my more mature years.
I would like to gain EYPs and we have been talking about that at uni today - definately doing my third year (if I can get the funding) and then onto EYPs.
I can't do EYP alongside my third year as I don't have my maths gcse so I will have to gain that either over the summer or after.

Not sure where I want it to take me after that - I will probably remain in childmninding for a while.

[kindredspirits]

i would like to be able to look at working in other settings if work ever dries up - but mainly because i left school 6 months before completely my A-Levels due to post traumatic stress and I was a straight A student - i feel gutted that i never got my qualfications and i dream about school a lot so i feel by getting my FD i will be laying a lot to rest - and i am enjoying it and my practice is improving massively. i found the course reletively simple to follow but you do have to put the time in iykwim.

[manjay]

No, Manjay! Really! Although I've loved the learning, I hate the homework and assignments with a vengeance, mainly cos they eat into family time. I would do it again in a heartbeat for how it's changed my practice but I couldn't be a full=time student Good for you though!

I've just been looking at my obs. this week and thinking it's so totally amazing to see what they are doing and thinking and their thought processes - so exciting!

But if I was a full time student I wouldn't have to manage assignments along with working 50+ hours a week

[The Juggler]

But if I was a full time student I wouldn't have to manage assignments along with working 50+ hours a week

ah true! you need a nice lottery win then, or you could just become an academic, do your honours degree, your masters and teach at uni and have papers published and be paid for being a student (sort of!)

[Jules27]

Interesting thread, glad I clicked on it. I am doing my NVQ 3 at the mo and will be for the next 7 months. Unsure what to do after - degree is my main thought - basically because I never went to uni and its the one thing I regret not doing so would be doing it for me. Just scares me abit and wonder if I would be able to cope with the work load????

[manjay]

ah true! you need a nice lottery win then, or you could just become an academic, do your honours degree, your masters and teach at uni and have papers published and be paid for being a student (sort of!)

Just imagine yourself being used as a reference in someone elses assignment!!!

Jules - I did my NVQ last year and the way mine worked in no way prepared me for what I am doing now. Having said that I know lots on here who do loads of writing for NVQs so I guess it depends on the way yours is done. It is quite scary at first but I think that is more about learning to write academically than anything else. It is not a subject where you have to come up with new ideas so it is all about finding out who has already written about what you are working on.

Time for me is the biggest stumbling block and I have also found out that I am really accomplished at avoidance tactics . My FD is based at a Uni which is really close to me so that helps. I study 2 modules a term, one in the classroom and one by distance learning which means I just attend Uni one evening a week. Year one gives me a level 4 qualification and yr2 a level 5.

One of the best things I have ever done