Jen,
I too am a father, of two testosterone filled little boys!!! 
PR is a system, method, whatever you want to call it that helps in absorbing and retaining all sorts of reading material but in a much more active and timely manner. The word to watch is 'timely' and in my experience it does save huge amounts of time!
If your starting your degree classes in Spring, my suggestion is you start to 'use' the system and have fun with it to master it ... as with all things in life ... it takes time, patience and belief!
Will you see results? I can most assurdly say yes if you follow the steps and practice!
You mentioned and I quote "I read as slow as I do" ... we were all taught by our education system to vocalize words to form sentences, hence one of the reason's for reading slow.
But let me tell you this, there lyes a being within you capable of absorbing information at an astonishing rate ... PR helps you to find and unleash this being!
Good luck in you decision and the attainment of your degree!
Humbily,
Michael Saikali
