CPST Course

I actually found one that starts on Sept. 10th. Rather than it being over the course of four consecutive days, it is being held on a Friday & Saturday, over two consecutive weeks (10th & 11th and 17th & 18th). This would actually work out better for me rather than four days during the work week. If I can get approval from my supervisor to take my required furlough days two Fridays in a row, then I will be able to attend this course. I hope it all works out.

I'm taking a class next week- anyone have any advice for us? Also, how hard is it to take breaks during the class? I'm still nursing my baby and the instructor said it would be hard for me to be able to pump

I was only able to pump during lunch

Glad you are both taking the course!

Someone here gave me the wonderful advice to ask the instructor if you can use a baby monitor or recorder when you need to pump/feed baby ... that way you won't miss any content!

Worth a shot asking the instructor if it's ok!

That's awesome! I would have loved to have found a course on 2 weekends..that way DH wouldn't have to take time off work. But, all the ones I've seen were Monday-Thursday (most of them) or Wednesday-Saturday (only one). I just paid the fee and finished registering for a course starting November 15 though! I'm SOO excited! And its actually really close to me! DH has vacation time left, so he's going to be able to take that week off work to take care of the girls (which I'm really excited about as well...he needs a reminder of just what I do every day while he's at work).

'Good idea about the monitor! I'll ask her if that'd work for her. It'd be fine if lunch were only a little later...

I'm not actually that excited about taking the course. I am, but what do you do when you get someone in that is just totally a bad situation? I guess at least they came in so that's good. But what do you do when you see someone that's not in for help that REALLY needs it? I'm just nervous that I'll be really stressed about trying to fix things when it's out of my control.

Mom2FiveGirls said:

That's awesome! I would have loved to have found a course on 2 weekends..that way DH wouldn't have to take time off work. But, all the ones I've seen were Monday-Thursday (most of them) or Wednesday-Saturday (only one). I just paid the fee and finished registering for a course starting November 15 though! I'm SOO excited! And its actually really close to me! DH has vacation time left, so he's going to be able to take that week off work to take care of the girls (which I'm really excited about as well...he needs a reminder of just what I do every day while he's at work).

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My supervisor had no problem with letting me use my furlough days two Fridays in a row, so I am clear to go!

According to the Safe Kids web site, there are five openings left in the class. It will be interesting to see how many are taking it because they have to and how many because they want to, like me!

I am going to think it over a bit more tonight because the new semester starts this Thursday, and I have no idea what my class workload is going to be like and I hope taking the CPST course won't be too much between work and school classes. But I checked all the way into February and there aren't any more this close to me except a controlled course.

Normally I can't handle taking all day training classes (like for my job) but I think the CPST course will be so much more interesting that it won't be bad at all. At least it is something I am interested in and want to take!

No advice except to know what the situation is for lunch, take water and sunscreen, and an open mind. I was definitely the only one in my class because I wanted to be, BUT the rest of my group was really interested and most of them did extremely well. They all ate up the material, learned a lot, and genuinely seemed to want to take their newfound skills into their jobs.

We didn't take a ton of breaks, but I think if I'd needed to pump my instructors would have accomodated me. Our class was pretty laid-back, though, and I'm sure they're not all that way.

Given how much you know from being here, msg, I think you'd be fine. I didn't need any out-of-class studying, and I drove two hours each way three days in a row (yeah... but it really was the best class of my options) and I survived. :thumbsup: It helped a not to be familiar with the bulk of the material.

The only other piece of advice I have is to practice biting your tongue, decide what's important enough to you to contest, and rehearse how to contest it. There were a few things said that I didn't agree with, or felt needed clarified, and I was really careful to pick my battles. Sometimes (like with ERF) I shared my experiences, and that you CAN successfully RF older kids... sometimes I asked a question to further an explanation, even if I knew the answer.

Wow! You must really have been interested in taking the course if you were willing to drive 2 hours each way! I only have to drive about 25 minutes!

I figured that since the class is broken up over two weeks, I should be okay. What I'm not thrilled about is that in Phoenix, September can still be nasty hot, so I'm not looking forward to installing seats if it is still 100 degrees out!

I am official! I registered and paid for my class today. There were only 4 spots left when I registered. I am looking forward to it.

Have fun!

Congratulations on getting into the class. I hope you have a great class.

Thanks all! At least I can use my mandatory furlough days from work to do something contructive!

I learned that the seat check we have to do will be on Sept. 18th, from 8-12. Here's hoping it won't be ridiculously hot that day! At least it will be in the morning!