Do you save a lot of money by printing Math Mammoth vs. buying texts?

[Jennifer WI]

I'm just wondering about this. I know ink is expensive, and honestly I like the ease of just having the texts. On the other hand, I do have 5 children, so if it really saves that much...

 

Anyone buy the download and then wish they'd bought the texts already printed? Vice versa?

 

Thanks!

[briansmama]

I bought the ebooks to use directly from my iPad, so no printing.

[Mom2pandc]

We bought the download for my 1st and 3rd graders. I have an ink jet printer that uses ink more like a laser jet (1500 or so black white per cartridge). I print them, laminate card stock for the covers and use a bind-it all (I wanted it for scrapbooking but actually got it since we were homeschooling hehe). A binder would work equally as well. I print duplex (except one unfortunate paper hogging time) and while I do print in color, I print just the pages I think we need. If I see a chapter or section we are already strong on, I don't print it.

I think I will save far more than I would if I bought the books.

[Mom2pandc]

We bought the download for my 1st and 3rd graders. I have an ink jet printer that uses ink more like a laser jet (1500 or so black white per cartridge). I print them, laminate card stock for the covers and use a bind-it all (I wanted it for scrapbooking but actually got it since we were homeschooling hehe). A binder would work equally as well. I print duplex (except one unfortunate paper hogging time) and while I do print in color, I print just the pages I think we need. If I see a chapter or section we are already strong on, I don't print it.

I think I will save far more than I would if I bought the books.

[boscopup]

I have a laser printer (one that you can usually find for $80-100 on sale). Yes, printing was much cheaper.

[Jayne J]

I got lucky last year and got 60% off of Math Mammoth grades 1-6 through Homeschool Buyers Coop (at least I think that is what it is called, I can't remember the exact name--maybe someone will jump in here. This seems to be a yearly sale with people getting anywhere from 40-60% off). I ended up paying somewhere near 65$ for grades 1-6, which I hope to use for all three kids. I will have to reprint for each child, and I never really sat down to figure my per page print price, but even if it costs 15$ to print each grade level, I feel like it is a steal, considering that any other math program I would care to use runs at least 80$ per level currently. So, if the initial purchase price is 10$ per level, and to print one copy per child is 45$ (15$x3 kids) it is roughly 55$ per level over all three kids, or 18$ per child per level. Spread over 6 grades it works out to $108 for each child from grade 1-6, --the printed version of one MM grade is 53.00 at Rainbow resources.

 

Of course, I limit my printing to what we actually need--no title pages, unneeded worksheets or TOCs, and my printer may be cheaper or more expensive than yours, and I started at 60% off, so you may not get the same numbers I do, but I absolutely feel that it is a cheap option for a great product. I have also heard that some folks are using it on their iPads and bypassing printing altogether, so that may be an option too.

[shukriyya]

I buy the downloads and then have them printed up at an Office Max/Staples etc store. The B&W option is relatively inexpensive.

[Jennifer WI]

I don't have a good printer. What I would really love to do is just buy the texts. But I feel almost guilty doing that. I just like the simplicity of NOT having to mess with printing it out myself. But with 5 kiddos...I dunno.

[Free Indeed]

I print it myself, and save a ton of money. I print on fast draft in black and white only.

[MeganW]

Best Value Copies has the cheapest copying I could find, even cheaper than I could print at home. I have them print everything in black & white. There have been a few pages I ended up printing at home in color, but B&W works for the most part.

[HappyCrazyMama]

I print it because I want the color. Last I knew the workbooks were only B&W. If we get an iPad (I think for Christmas) we'll go that route.:)

[Farrar]

If someone has one kid, then I think the texts are cheaper, especially if you don't buy the answer keys. But with five kids... the answer seems obvious. Go ahead and get a laser printer.

[Guest Belli]

Another option you could look at...I have 4 kids and using MM with my first. I used to print which was fine but then I realized we could download it straight to our ipad and use a stylus. We use it with the apps Dropbox and notability. So far it's been excellent, no more printing!

[momtoamiracle]

I like the download, from a CD, because I print only what I need therefore less paper waste. Sometimes I read the problems from the iPad, but using the stylus doesn't work well for my son. His writing is too big for the smallish screen. But for an older, more adept child, it would work well.

 

 

With five kids I would print it out. I also paid $65 for grades 1-6.

[Jess4879]

We have an ink jet printer and I buy remanufactured ink, so for 4 cartridges I pay around $15 and I don't use an entire cartridge to print a MM grade level (2 workbooks). So for us, I find it reasonably cheap to print as opposed to buying each level pre-printed and paying shipping. We did buy the 1-6 grade levels on sale through HSBC, which makes a big difference when you calculate out price, as well.

[kesmom]

I print it myself, and save a ton of money. I print on fast draft in black and white only.

 

So do you think b+w printing is sufficient? I asked about this last year (probably during the co-op deal) because we only have a b+w printer. At the time most people recommended color. We ended up sticking with Singapore but I'm still considering it for next year. (I have an ipad, but I feel like pencil/paper is better for younger kids)

[Kathryn]

We also used the iPad and a stylus instead of printing.

[thegirlwhopaintedtrees]

So do you think b+w printing is sufficient? I asked about this last year (probably during the co-op deal) because we only have a b+w printer. At the time most people recommended color. We ended up sticking with Singapore but I'm still considering it for next year. (I have an ipad, but I feel like pencil/paper is better for younger kids)

 

 

I print ours in B&W and DD5 likes it just fine.

[kdownie]

I have access to a laser printer, so that makes it a lot cheaper to print. I have 3 more kids to still use the program, so buying a CD was definitely the way to go for me. Our library had .05/page printing for awhile, so that was cheaper than my own ink jet printer (before I had access to the laser one) and cheaper than Staples. With 5 kids, I'd say a download or CD is cheapest in the long run.

[hollyhock]

So do you think b+w printing is sufficient? I asked about this last year (probably during the co-op deal) because we only have a b+w printer. At the time most people recommended color. We ended up sticking with Singapore but I'm still considering it for next year. (I have an ipad, but I feel like pencil/paper is better for younger kids)

 

 

I've used levels 1 though 4 and my oldest is now in 5. I've always printed in b&w and it's only been an issue once, where the instructions were colour-specific and we just had b&w. But I just went to my computer and looked it up and then I got it, so it wasn't a big deal. Can't remember where that spot is though.

[ELITEANDLOVINGIT]

I bought the ebooks to use directly from my iPad, so no printing.

 

 

I like the idea of downloading to IPAD (even though I have a different sort of tablet) do they come in an app format, or is it a doc you convert to form, what program are you using to completely the worksheets on the IPAD?

[sunriseiz]

I don't have a good printer. What I would really love to do is just buy the texts. But I feel almost guilty doing that. I just like the simplicity of NOT having to mess with printing it out myself. But with 5 kiddos...I dunno.

 

 

I think it's ok to buy the printed books. Compared to a lot of other curricula, they are not expensive. I don't have time to deal with printing and binding myself, so it's worth it. I try to buy them when there is a sale on them. I just bought 5A/B with a 30% off coupon from Lulu.com. {DD is finishing MM4 faster than anticipated. ;) } OTOH, I have bought a few of the blue books to print as extra practice. I think you just have to decide what's better for you.