Proof that I'm not crazy: http://www.kijiji.ca/v-business-industrial/mississauga-peel-region/laminator-27-width/1082722406?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true (I searched the whole site but only got industrial grade results. I didn't know smaller laminators existed until this thread, haha. Please ignore me now, this thread just displays my ignorance of home office supplies.)

Thanks for all the responses! I had no idea that there were inexpensive laminators out there. I searched a local buy/sell site looking for a used one and they were all from teachers' supply stores and cost $1000+! I'll check out Amazon and Walmart. :)

Do you laminate materials that get used over and over (like matching or memory games, reference cards, etc.)? If yes, do you use an actual laminator (which seem to cost an arm and a leg), or do you have a diy trick? If not, what do you do to protect oft-used materials? Or do you just print them new when they get worn? Thank you!

Oh thank you, I'll check that out. I like the sound of free! :)

Thank you all so much for the great suggestions! I'll look for the resources mentioned and keep all your tips in mind. :)

Hi everyone, I'm very new to homeschooling in general and getting overwhelmed by all the different curricula out there. My oldest is 3 years old and she loves to read. She spends an average of five hours a day sitting on the couch with a huge pile of books. I have to literally force her to go play sometimes, haha. Lately she's been asking me to teach her to read so she doesn't have to wait for someone to read books to her. Today I showed her the vowels (all lower case for now) and taught her the sounds they make, and since then she's been looking for vowels throughout her books. I was thinking of adding on some consonants next and having her sound out some simple cvc words. Is this a good approach so far? I really don't know anything about teaching kids to read. Is there a curriculum I could use that would give me more guidance? She's only 3 so I really don't want to make this a very rigid, academic pursuit for her- I want to keep things fun and based on her interest level. Right now she wants to learn because it's fun, and I worry that most of the curricula are for older children and she would be turned off of reading.

Thanks for your reply! Sorry if I wasn't clear, I meant that I was foreseeing potentially not fitting in to a secular group, *if* I actually managed to find one. The only groups I have actually found are either Christian groups or unschooling groups. Thanks to everyone who replied! I feel much more confident going without a group at this point, and we'll make up for the social aspect through extracurriculars and other activities :)

Hi everyone, I'm new to homeschooling and am in the middle of reading The Well-Trained Mind. I'm pretty well decided on following a classical education plan for my kids, but I'm having a hard time finding a local homeschooling group. I'm located in Brampton, Ontario, Canada (part of the Greater Toronto Area). There a few groups that I've found so far but they are either more focused on unschooling or they're Christian based groups. I don't really have an issue with joining a Christian based group but I'm worried I wouldn't be accepted because I'm Muslim and we wouldn't partake in any Christian based programs that they might be offering. At the same time if I was to find a secular group I don't think I'd fit in there either because we focus on Islam and the Qur'an heavily in our education. In many ways I think we would have more friends among the Christian groups! Unfortunately there is a Muslim homeschooling group here but it's very much unschooling focused to the point that I'm not comfortable with the workshops they hold for kids- they're very scattered, the kids are completely undisciplined, and it's just not worth our time in my opinion. I also feel that they look down on more rigid styles of homeschooling. Do you think I would be better off trying to join a Christian group, or would they not let me in due to not being Christian? Has anyone tried to homeschool *without* a group? Everything I've been reading has been saying that joining a group makes things easier. Sorry for the long-winded question! Thanks for reading :)