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Curriculum via PDF download


farming_mum
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I know there are some programs out there that you can download online as a PDF and print off as needed. :thumbup:

 

It's great not paying for postage to Australia from the US!!

 

Here are a few that I know of:

 

1. Story of the World (History)

2. REAL Science Odyssey (Science)

3. First Language Lessons (Grammar)

 

Are there any others out there that you know of??

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Bravewriter!

 

The Arrow, The Boomerang, The Wand, and The Slingshot are available as issues intended to be used over a one month (more or less) period. Issues can be purchased individually or in an annual subscription.

 

You can also get The Writer's Jungle and Help for High School in PDF format.

 

Link: Bravewriter Home Study Courses

Often they can be obtained more cheaply through Homeschool Buyer's Coop.

Edited by jplain
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When you purchase PDF curriculum do you prefer to print out the whole thing and read the hardcopy, or do you read it on the monitor and then print off the pages you want dc to study?

 

I have found that I don't like either. Now, the only downloadable items I purchase are consumable items. For reading content, I have found I just prefer books.

 

I suspect if you have an iPad or e-reader, reading digitally would be great, but since we don't, for now, I no longer do this. Printing I find cumbersome. I already have printed materials and activities scattered all over my house, and I don't like adding to the mess. I've tried printing, 3-hole-punching, and placing in a binder, but this is time consuming, it tears easily, and it takes up way more precious bookshelf real estate than an actual book. No Thanks. But, I say this knowing I also do not have the super tight education budget that some folks here do. I can afford to shell out some extra money for professionally bound books and materials, and to me it is worth the money.

 

Just my two cents.

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Mr. Q Life Science

A Child's Geography

Verbal Math Lesson

Also, I checked with Classical Writing and their Teacher's Guides are available in PDF form... I think everything but the workbooks.

 

However: I'm in Canada, so I figured I'd save a bunch with PDF books BUT it costs a fortune to print. I got a FREE copy of Verbal Math Lesson, but ended up buying the book because it was under $10 and would have cost more than that even to print half the book. :-(((

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We don't print. DD does her MM problems on a white board if we are at home or on a piece of paper if we are mobile, same for WWE. FLL and SOTW are read. We have done RSO that way in the past, but now I have BFSU on the kindle. And our reading books. In fact, LFC has a free download of worksheets made up by parents in .pdf format that we use also, along with any worksheets I feel like making that I save in .pdf format and transfer to my kindle. For us, the whole point is NOT to print! I can put the kindle in my purse and we are out the door!

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  • 4 weeks later...
My question is, why are the .pdf files nearly the same price as the hard copies? That doesn't make sense at all!

:iagree: Not only are they not spending money on materials (printing, paper), but we can't even resell an ebook. This is the one factor that keeps me from buying curriculum electronically. I like the idea, but $20-$40 is an awful lot for an electronic file.

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KidCoder and TeenCoder computer programming courses are available as PDF's.

 

Add me to the disgusted at the high price of e-materials. Either that, or why can't I wipe them clean from my computer and then sell them? How is that different from selling a used book?

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  • 1 month later...

 

It's great not paying for postage to Australia from the US!!

 

 

:iagree:

 

It drives me batty when the cost of postage to Oz is often as much as the item I'm buying :banghead:

 

Others for the list are LivelyLatin and Sequential Spelling.

 

We're using a lot of downloaded pdf curriculum this year. I'm printing off student pages as needed and everything else I either read from Kindle or we all look at it on the tablet.

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Bump

 

In light of the ipad thread. I'm LOVING this idea!

 

Which thread is this? Do you mind linking it? :D

 

Four Square Writing is one of my new favorites.

 

I can print 3,000 pages for $15.00 so printing is often cheaper than shipping, and definitely FASTER.

 

What kind of printer do you have? I'm thinking of buying a new one so I can print more cheaply.

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I'm just curious about this and thought I'd ask here. When you purchase PDF curriculum do you prefer to print out the whole thing and read the hardcopy, or do you read it on the monitor and then print off the pages you want dc to study?

 

I do both.

For example, I printed out our grammar, but we do vocabulary from the screen and just write down new words in our notebook. I don't want him to spend too much time on the screen, but I don't want to print out 2000 worksheets either.

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I'm just curious about this and thought I'd ask here. When you purchase PDF curriculum do you prefer to print out the whole thing and read the hardcopy, or do you read it on the monitor and then print off the pages you want dc to study?

 

Thanks!

Lucinda

 

We use WWE pdf and I just read the teacher's part from my laptop. I print off pages as needed for my dd. This is one of the biggest reasons I keep telling my husband that I NEED an iPad. :lol: He's still not going for it.:glare:

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What kind of printer do you have? I'm thinking of buying a new one so I can print more cheaply.

 

I was given an old Samsung ML 1740

 

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=ml+1740+printer&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=1102318179282321606&sa=X&ei=nBAbT53mBMbl0QHOtvnXCw&ved=0CHAQ8wIwAQ#ps-sellers

 

I get the cartridges for $15.00 at Amazon, that print 3,000 pages.

 

I can barely believe it either. It is such a luxury to print whatever I want :-)

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I'm just curious about this and thought I'd ask here. When you purchase PDF curriculum do you prefer to print out the whole thing and read the hardcopy, or do you read it on the monitor and then print off the pages you want dc to study?

 

Thanks!

Lucinda

 

It depends. For FLL, WWE, and SOTW I print the activity pages for each child at the beginning of the year and put them in their binder. We use a monochrome laser for this that prints on both sides to save on printing costs. When we used the R.E.A.L. Science and History Odyssey I printed those entire books because printing assignment pages would have been a pain.

 

All teacher books, the actual story part of SOTW, etc., live on my iPad and I teach from that. I use the GoodReader app ($5?) and it remembers where I was the last time I accessed the file and so every morning there we are. It also backs up PDFs to iCloud so I'm covered in the case of hardware trouble. My husband likes to joke about my high-tech slate, but it frees us from the computer and saves printing costs.

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:iagree: Not only are they not spending money on materials (printing, paper), but we can't even resell an ebook. This is the one factor that keeps me from buying curriculum electronically. I like the idea, but $20-$40 is an awful lot for an electronic file.

 

I have 3 kids. All of my kids are going to use the WTM stuff, so everything I've bought from Peace Hill Press is reusable. I don't have to worry about buying new consumables. I have a super cheap laser printer that prints on both sides of the page, so I am saving money running my kids through this way. It's not efficient for single child homes unless shipping costs are high or space is cramped, but it works very well for us. I simply don't have room to save all of these books for future use, and I don't have anyone to resell to in this area so PDFs are a lifesaver for me.

 

I understand why PDFs are only a small discount from print because more than likely it will be used several times when if a print consumable is bought you have to come back every year or write answers on separate pages.

 

I am having issues with MCT because their stuff is all dead tree books and I'd really like to have it on PDF. :( I'll deal, though.

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I do really like the pdf curricula. I put WWE on my kindle and teach off that. Dd prefers to do her copywork into a journaling notebook (the type with a space for a picture) so I don't have to print their student pages. I think this will be the new norm as more and more people get these devices.

 

I was resistant to the trend at first, but I bought Tapestry of Grace's digital edition last yr. I love that they store it for me, and I get any updates to the curriculum. It cannot go on a kindle, but in the future we will hopefully get a tablet type thing that can support it.

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Connect the Thoughts has History and Science for early elementary through H.S. age. There are also courses for writing, current events and others. CTT courses are different, they make the child think for themselves... there is a lot of writing, we turn about 1/2 into discussions. So far I've only tried the History, but the kids love it. There is a sale going on right now for "bundles". I would suggest waiting until Febuary to buy though. CTT will be offering another sale on their individual classes. Price range is $15-$30 per class. You can easily do a class in 1 semester. I like to take the curriculum and add to it (nothing is ever perfect) and make it take longer.

 

Also look up "vintage books" here. You'll find a lot of great ideas for Language Arts, History, and Science books avail. free through Google books and others.

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:iagree: Not only are they not spending money on materials (printing, paper), but we can't even resell an ebook. This is the one factor that keeps me from buying curriculum electronically. I like the idea, but $20-$40 is an awful lot for an electronic file.

I agree with you prices should be lower on .pdf's but I prefer them just because I have four kids that will be using the same curriculum so it ends up saving us to be able to print for all four kids. I do find .pdf's seem to go on sale much more often then books too. I got most of our Amanda Bennett stuff 40%-60% off with sales.

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I do really like the pdf curricula. I put WWE on my kindle and teach off that. Dd prefers to do her copywork into a journaling notebook (the type with a space for a picture) so I don't have to print their student pages. I think this will be the new norm as more and more people get these devices.

 

I was resistant to the trend at first, but I bought Tapestry of Grace's digital edition last yr. I love that they store it for me, and I get any updates to the curriculum. It cannot go on a kindle, but in the future we will hopefully get a tablet type thing that can support it.

 

What kind of kindle do you have and how do you put the PDF on the kindle? I have a kindle touch and have been trying to figure out how to use it for school.

Thanks.

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