It is time to go back to school for our kids but also many adults will be taking advantage of the time for kids to go back to school to go back themselves. It is important to remember when you are going back to school as an adult that you need to be prepared and focused. As a mom who went back to school and finished my degree I thought I’d share some back to school for adults tips that I found necessary for me. 
Make Time for You
I know it sounds silly but you need to make time for you. Make sure you are able to study and focus. This could mean hiring a sitter to watch the kids one or two nights a week so you can get out of the house or to just sit in your office to study, read, take a test. For us, I set time out each evening that was for me to study. Steve and the kids knew it was study time. During the day, when the kids were at school, was my time to do household things like grocery shopping, laundry, and cleaning. I tried to keep my study time for after the kids went to bed but there were definitely times I needed to take the time earlier (IE A big test coming up).
Set Boundaries
This is a really hard one to do if you’re an online student. I know on more than one occasion I didn’t answer test questions correctly or finished on time because the family would interrupt me. After the second test where I knew the answer but had clicked the wrong answer because the kids had interrupted, I set boundaries. I closed the doors, hung a sign on the door and the kids knew they were not allowed to interrupt at that point. Again I tried to follow rule number one and do my tests when the kids weren’t around but sometimes that was impossible.
Be Prepared
Make sure you have the best supplies for you. I’m a huge fan of highlighting my books and writing notes at the same time. It has been proven over and over that writing notes rather than typing them in or just highlighting can improve your learning. There was even a recent ASCD article that talks about the advantages of handwritten note taking. One of the ways I made this happen was to have fun colors to take notes with. One of the best ways to organize my notes was to use different colors. I loved using gel pens but they could be gloppy and bubbly. Crayola sent me a sample of their new Take A Note Gel Pens and Erasable Highlighters to test out. All opinions are my own! It just so happened when we got home from vacation I had some documents to read through and take notes on from an old employer. I used the erasable highlighters to document important information that I needed to keep track of and the Washable Gel Pens to take notes as I spoke to a representative.
I’ve also found that the Erasable Highlighters are perfect for my knitting charts! I can make one copy, mark it up as I go, erase and its ready to use again!
Find Cheap Textbooks
You’re school will definitely have a list of books for each class and they will have them available for you to purchase there at the school. But honestly that’s expensive! I found several different places to get my books cheaper or even to just rent them. I used Amazon Text Rentals quite a few times. You can easily rent text books, send them back and even trade ones in that you had to purchase elsewhere. A plus if you’re a fast reader or you have a shortened term, you can return the book within 30 days for a refund of your rental fee! I also used Campus Books as they have the option to rent and buy. Unfortunately not all books are available on one or the other site and I had to use both to make full term book lists achievable.
To help you get ready for back to school Crayola is offering one of our readers a Take Note Gift Pack to include one 6 ct. Erasable Highlighters as well as a 6 ct. and 14 ct. Washable Gel Pens.
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