Do you use a lot of PDFs?

[Slache]

I'm considering a Build Your Own Bundle, but I don't see myself using PDFs aside from worksheets and Math. If I were to get it it would be $50 for:

 

ELTL/RLTL/HLTL which I want hard copes of, but might use these instead

2 copywork books which I *will* use

2 of Ellen McHenry's books for later (and probably me now)

How Great Thou Art I which I might use

A USA activity book that's right up his alley

and one more thing

 

Am I going to buy them, download them, regret it and get hard copies?

 

[SilverMoon]

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Edited May 23, 2023 by SilverMoon

[Slache]

Do you think the cost of printing them makes it worth it? I've never printed a book before.

[Slache]

How do you print them? I print MEP at home, but it's a little at a time.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited May 23, 2023 by SilverMoon

[kbutton]

I print mine out if they don't have a lot of color. We bought a Brother laserjet last spring or summer, and it's about two cents per page for toner, and I get paper for free or nearly so if I watch for Staples rebates. Before that, I didn't buy e-books at all.

 

If I plan to use all of a resource, I print the whole thing. I am not sure (yet) what to do about things I"ll partially use, but I do start with keeping the TOC and other important information from each book in a planning place. That helps me know what I have.

 

I put freebies that I feel ambivalent about in a totally different folder on my computer so that I don't have to wade through them when planning.

[happypamama]

I love PDF books! Sometimes I put them on a tablet and just print a few pages (looking at you and your nine hundred pages, Mr. Q science!), which works fine for reading. Sometimes I print the whole thing, but for me, looking at using them for multiple children (and having the option to print new sheets if someone messes up a map or something) makes it worthwhile to print. A set of ink cartridges, one in each color, for my printer runs about $10-13, and a ream of paper is about $3.40 at WalMart. So for $15-16 or so, I could do a LOT of printing of PDFs. History Odyssey saves me several dollars per book by buying the PDF version, and on fast mode, single sided, even in color, it's still only about 200 pages per book. It's probably about even with buying an already printed version, for the first child, but then it's only a few dollars to print for the next child, plus then I have it easily accessible to ME on my tablet, which is handy at the library or when I'm planning from bed at night or whatever.

 

I spent a while organizing my materials on my computer, all separated by subject and sub-subject (so "Language Arts -- Literature Guides" and "Language Arts -- Grammar") and so on. Makes it more likely that I will remember to use something.

[Sarah0000]

I print and put in clear plastic protectors and in a binder the things for writing on, like Mep. Otherwise I just open the PDF on the tablet which is like having a book as far as portability. DS, age 3, has no problem reading from the tablet.

[Slache]

I print and put in clear plastic protectors and in a binder the things for writing on, like Mep. Otherwise I just open the PDF on the tablet which is like having a book as far as portability. DS, age 3, has no problem reading from the tablet.

 

What kind of tablet would you recommend?

[kiwik]

I get pdfs to avoid postage to NZ. I can't get the cheap ink you can get over there though so printing is a bigger cost. I think for a lot of things if I were in the US I would just buy them.

[ChocolateMomster]

Yes, we use a lot of PDF's, because of the postage. I also love that I can print out the same page again if a child needs more practice. Or skip pages altogether :)

[MeaganS]

I do use a lot of PDFs, mostly so I can re-print for later children. Currently, we use WWE, MEP, Miquon, and EM Geography as PDFs and will be adding SOTW activity book to that list in a month or so. I print it all, except a few pieces of MEP (like the posters) and the teacher's guide for WWE, both of which I access on my phone, computer, or iPad depending on what is convenient. We have an inexpensive Brother laser printer, and with generic ink, it costs very little for us to print per page (like less than a penny). We also have a color printer with one of those continuous ink systems (similar to this) so printing in color also only costs us less than a penny per page. Right now I just 3-hole punch them and put them in binders. It works for us.

 

Being able to print multiple copies is especially nice. For example, I printed copies of the coloring pages from the SOTW activity book for my 3 year old when I printed them for my other 2 daughters. I wouldn't have bought her the pages if that was my only option, but she will be happy to have her own and I can make her happy.

[Hunter]

Some pdfs I read as eBooks. Others I print. Some, I try really hard to find in a Kindle version.

 

My first attempt to go all eBook were maybe about 2 years ago. I've learned a lot.

 

When looking at tablets, look for a tablet with a narrow border. Wider borders is all space that cannot display the pdf. Squarish screens are better than widescreen for pdfs that are 8.5 by 11. Make sure the screen has a feature where you can easily zoom in on an area of the pdf. If you want to type on a tablet, make sure there are nice keyboards DESIGNED for it.

 

I have decided I prefer my 3R's to have at least the spine in hardcopy, so I can take notes in the book. I don't mind scribbling in notes to use page after page of an eBook, like my notes in Ray's to use pages in Math Mammoth Blue, but I want a little something in my hand, when it comes to the 3R's.

 

I like novels in Kindle, rather than pdf, and want to get the student off a tablet and onto a less glaring screen.  I have switched to a MUCH more novel heavy curriculum, instead of as many texts. But there were first changed in my BELIEFS about the WORLD that went further than educational theory, that made me SO comfortable doing this. So I need less pdfs now, than I did.

 

I also really life Kindle whispersync for books that I want students to use audio books. You can skim through the eBook, and then just hit, "play" and that makes it SO much easier to find your place in an audiobook when you have lost it, or need to review. I use a LOT of whispersyns audio, now, as I think it helps develop a student's brain in ways that I don't fully understand. They are engaging with more challenging books with more atypical sentence structure, that beyond their independent reading level.

 

For ME, when using an eBook heavy curriculum, I need MULTIPLE devices and sometimes have as many as three of them open at the same time, sometimes even 4, when I have owned that many.

 

Right now, with the technology available, I prefer having an iPad, iPhone, and Kindle Paperwhite/Voyager. I have a first gen 11" Mac Air, but it struggles a bit at times to do what I need it to do with larger pdfs. Usually the free stuff, not the professional stuff. I could use a bigger screen, more power, and more USB ports.

 

I have the brother 2340DW printer and that has been AWESOME. All eBook without the ability to print cheaply was doable, but more difficult. I can now print, cut, and staple things into paperback novel sized booklets.

[smudge]

THANK YOU! For your insight on this. I will be starting our third year of homeschool and really considering going to mostly e-books and PDFs this fall. Between my iPad, the OneNote app, and the kids kindle fires we could just make it work!

 

Some pdfs I read as eBooks. Others I print. Some, I try really hard to find in a Kindle version.

 

My first attempt to go all eBook were maybe about 2 years ago. I've learned a lot.

 

When looking at tablets, look for a tablet with a narrow border. Wider borders is all space that cannot display the pdf. Squarish screens are better than widescreen for pdfs that are 8.5 by 11. Make sure the screen has a feature where you can easily zoom in on an area of the pdf. If you want to type on a tablet, make sure there are nice keyboards DESIGNED for it.

 

I have decided I prefer my 3R's to have at least the spine in hardcopy, so I can take notes in the book. I don't mind scribbling in notes to use page after page of an eBook, like my notes in Ray's to use pages in Math Mammoth Blue, but I want a little something in my hand, when it comes to the 3R's.

 

I like novels in Kindle, rather than pdf, and want to get the student off a tablet and onto a less glaring screen. I have switched to a MUCH more novel heavy curriculum, instead of as many texts. But there were first changed in my BELIEFS about the WORLD that went further than educational theory, that made me SO comfortable doing this. So I need less pdfs now, than I did.

 

I also really life Kindle whispersync for books that I want students to use audio books. You can skim through the eBook, and then just hit, "play" and that makes it SO much easier to find your place in an audiobook when you have lost it, or need to review. I use a LOT of whispersyns audio, now, as I think it helps develop a student's brain in ways that I don't fully understand. They are engaging with more challenging books with more atypical sentence structure, that beyond their independent reading level.

 

For ME, when using an eBook heavy curriculum, I need MULTIPLE devices and sometimes have as many as three of them open at the same time, sometimes even 4, when I have owned that many.

 

Right now, with the technology available, I prefer having an iPad, iPhone, and Kindle Paperwhite/Voyager. I have a first gen 11" Mac Air, but it struggles a bit at times to do what I need it to do with larger pdfs. Usually the free stuff, not the professional stuff. I could use a bigger screen, more power, and more USB ports.

 

I have the brother 2340DW printer and that has been AWESOME. All eBook without the ability to print cheaply was doable, but more difficult. I can now print, cut, and staple things into paperback novel sized booklets.

[Peaceful Isle]

I, personally, would rather have the real books, rather than a pdf or ebooks. I have the PDFs of SOTW 3 on my iPad, but it was such a pain to scroll down each time, so I ended up borrowing the paper copy from the library off and on this year.

 

That being said, I do use the Math for a Living Education downloads on my hard drive and print the pages off as needed or in bulk. It's worth it to me because it is free and a great supplement.

 

For me, having a workbook in hand already is much better.

[Joyful Journeys]

I have used the print versions of RLTL and ELTL and much prefer the pdf. The kids really don't need to handle the books very much, so I love that I can easily bookmark our last phonogram, spelling list and reader. DD reads her Elson readers just fine from it. We move a lot, and I've just realized over half my curricula for next year is on pdf. So that plus a library card makes its very easy. Math is the only subject with a workbook. I use a simple mead primary journal for RLTL snd ELTL. The physical books I buy are living books.

[Wabi Sabi]

I prefer PDFs for consumable pages so that I don't have to repurchase the materials for my younger child. For things like Math Mammoth I print out each chapter individually as it's own small workbook. For something such as First Language Lessons I prefer the printed and bound instructor's guide but buy the PDF student pages. We have a laser printer for cheap black and white printing and a color ink jet with very cheap, generic ink cartridges from Amazon for things that are better in color (math, for instance) so our printing costs are minimal. We got through the whole year with one toner cartridge and spent $20ish on ink (8 blacks, 4 each of cyan, magenta, and yellow). 

[Holly]

I bought the print version of ELTL and am glad I did.  We haven't used it yet, but I think it will be very handy...especially since I'll be juggling 3 levels of it!  I ordered HLTL with the bundle since I'll be printing copies of those for multiple children.  I don't mind reading a PDF (or reading to them from one), but for books they will be reading on their own, I definitely prefer hard-copies. 

 

Another factor I consider is how long will this resource be used?  If it's something we'll only be using for a few weeks, I can deal with a PDF.  If it's a resource I'll be using for multiple children over multiple years, I'd rather invest in a printed copy.