s/o ?'s About Must Haves for HS'ing

[HSMom2One]

I'm fascinated with a couple of suggestions on the other thread, but did not want to hijack. So tell me ladies, I'm on a pretty tight budget due to $$ going out on curriculum, but I'd like to learn more about the following:

 

1. If you wanted to get started with a Pro-Click system, which basic set would you get? Would you buy it from Amazon, or is there a better source?

 

2. What choices are out there for laminating machines?

 

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[mompotter]

I have been hsing for several years and have gotten along fine without either item. ;)

 

I must admit that I am considering a laminating machine but would rather spend my money on some fun science items to go with our curriculum this year. :D

[twoxcell]

Well we bought our laminating machine 2 years ago from WalMart for 25 dollars. It works great! It's a Scotch brand.

[JudoMom]

I've got the Scotch Thermal laminator. I bought mine at Sam's last year for around $20. When my Sam's stopped carrying them, I bought one for a friend at Walmart for about $25. I purchase pouches at Sam's--they carry a box of 200 for around $20.

[Chris in VA]

I just use contact paper to laminate--but I only laminate calendar pictures for art, and Hannah's timeline/VP knock-off cards for history. Very occasionally, something else will pop up. One large roll has lasted me 5 years. Probably cost me $6. I don't do posters. I just find that I'm not as rough on things as a classroom teacher, so lamination doesn't make sense for me.

 

Just thought I'd throw that out there!

[yvonne]

ElegantLion on these boards has a great thread explaining what Proclick materials she started with. I used her info to figure out where to start.

 

I just started using a Proclick this summer & it's been great for binding together my planning papers. It's like a binder bec. you can open it and add sheets, but I like it a lot better than the billion and one binders I have around here bec. it takes up less space and I can carry it more easily to the library/wherever.

 

The children have discovered it and have started binding their own "books." It's been working better than their stapled books bec. they can easily open it, move pages around, add pages, etc. without tearing it up.

[elegantlion]

ElegantLion on these boards has a great thread explaining what Proclick materials she started with. I used her info to figure out where to start.

 

I just started using a Proclick this summer & it's been great for binding together my planning papers. It's like a binder bec. you can open it and add sheets, but I like it a lot better than the billion and one binders I have around here bec. it takes up less space and I can carry it more easily to the library/wherever.

 

The children have discovered it and have started binding their own "books." It's been working better than their stapled books bec. they can easily open it, move pages around, add pages, etc. without tearing it up.

 

Ah, thanks. I have to admit it was a splurge item. I invested about 100.00 with the machine and buying some spiral spines (ones that you can't open). I make my own planner, I bind all sorts of things. I can become almost obsessive. :lol: I ended up buying mine from my binding.com because they had better pricing on the spines, but that was over a year ago, I'm not sure which is the best price now.

 

Can you get by without it? Sure. But I've enjoyed using it and I have enough spiral spines to probably last until ds is done with school. The spiral spines in a box of 100 were cheaper than the pro-click spines for a box of 25. Obviously the set back is that you can't open the spiral spines. My plan is to invest in a box of pro-click spines just to have them, but I find most things once printed and bound I don't want to undo anyway.