Will I regret cutting off all the spines of my books....

[kdownie]

I'm on a big kick right now of having the local office supply store cut the spines of my books, then three-punching them and putting them in binders. I put the teacher's guides in page protectors.

 

I'm a new homeschooling mom with a first grader, with 3 kids still to follow, so I figure I'll be using these teacher's guides many times over. It seems better in a binder and page protectors than in the bound version. My toddler loves to color on things, and with the pages in sleeves, he can't ruin them (as easily! :-) )

 

My books are WWE, FLL (the Level versions, not the combined 1/2 one), AAR, AAS, RSO.

 

Many of the student workbooks I do the same thing, except the page protectors, because a binder is easier than the workbook.

 

Will I later on regret having so many books cut apart? Are there people who just love having their books bound in the original fashion?

[klmama]

I prefer the original bindings. I cut the spines off two books, and I ended up wishing I hadn't. I discovered I didn't like working from binders because of their bulk. If you like them, and they work for you, that's great!

[Ellie]

I never regretted it once, not for a nanosecond. Smartest thing I ever did. :-) I also drilled the books and kept them in three-ring notebooks.

 

ETA: I removed student pages from the three-ring notebooks and gave them to the dc to work on, then put the pages back. Sometimes, if a TM was very thick, I'd take out a smaller unit and put it in a smaller notebook.

[monalisa]

I doubt that you will regret it if you intend to use them through several kids, but it might affect how easy they are to sell if you do want to sell them later. I had the binding cut off and had several TMs spiral bound (WWE for example) which is the format I much prefer because the TMs are still thin but are easy to keep laying flat (I hate wrestling a thick paperback TM, like FLL for example). However, that doesn't help at all in preventing coloring on them. The only other downside I can see is that would be a lot of page protectors so it is going to make your TMs heavy and bulky, but it might not bother you. Personally, I don't like having tons of binders to wrestle around, but if it works for you that's great. I have done the 3 hole punch in a binder thing for all the student pages (WWE, Easy Grammar, Daily grams, math pages etc.) Just fyi, it doesn't work too well to try to spiral bind something that has been 3 hole punched, or vice versa, both of which I have tried.

[Hwin]

I happily buy altered used books and (obviously new) pdfs... I like the flexiblity.

[alisoncooks]

I like to remove the spines on my school books and have them spiral-bound. (I don't like binders; they don't fit well on my shelves.)

I've also haven't had any problems reselling them, either. :)

 

I've done: FLL, WWE, Singapore math, other workbooks that weren't perforated.

[SebastianCat]

I take every single workbook page out of the workbook over the summer and arrange them in two old HUGE Sonlight binders by week. So each week I just grab that week's pages, make notes or assignments notations on them, and stick them into folders for each day. I absolutely love my system - it's a lot of work in July, but makes for very little prep time each week during our school year.

[nertsmommy]

I have the spines cut off and spiral bound because I like the books to lay flat. I thought about putting them in binders, but decided against it because it would take up to much room on my shelf. I don't have a lot of room.

[kdownie]

Good point about the space-saving aspect of spiral binding. I am currently limited to a shelf in my laundry room, and the binders certainly are bulky.

[prairiewindmomma]

Some of my books that I had the binding cut off of and three hole punched are starting to show wear on their punches and need reinforcement. I've almost lost pages a few times because kids are not gentle with three hole punched material. The books that I had spiralbound are doing much better. They also sit more compactly on the shelf....and now that I've been at this for eight years, we have full shelves.

 

I started page protecting stuff WAY long ago, and I regret the effort and expense I put into it. I really wish I would've gotten a proclick and a toner-efficient printer YEARS ago and purchased stuff in .pdf format. ;)

[xixstar]

I think you need to get a ProClick and trim off all those bindings. I agree that 3-ring binders are a pain to work with. :) Store spiral bound also a great option too. :)

[blondeviolin]

I buy PDF when I can. For my kids' math, though, we chop the spine so I can only had them one page at a time from their workbook. They love to watch their workbook lose its pages. I keep the loose pages together in a binder clip. For science and handwriting, etc. I proclick so they don't take up much space, we can take them out if needed, and it lays flat. Definitely invest in a proclick!

[Kyr]

We started with binders but my kids and I find them difficult to write in, I find them bulky and awkward and I can't tell you how many of those little reinforcing donut stickers we have gone through. I recieved a comb bind machine for Christmas after 3 years of asking and it is FABULOUS. We absolutely prefer having things bound to binders. My daughter likes keeping her books as is, my son asks to have the spines chopped and pages bound. He needs it to lay flat. I find things get done more that I can grab bound books rather than loose paper or binders.

 

I have not had any problems comb binding items that were previously 3 hole punched.

 

I've picked altered versions of books used over original bindings because I find them easier to use. I think that is a personal preference thing.

[NotSoObvious]

I prefer the original bindings. I cut the spines off two books, and I ended up wishing I hadn't. I discovered I didn't like working from binders because of their bulk. If you like them, and they work for you, that's great!

 

 

This.

 

Binders are bulky and take up a lot of space. The Peace Hill books are nicely bound, lay fairly flat, and are easy to stick on a bookshelf.

 

Although, my favorite version now is a PDF on my iPad.

[teeniebeenie6]

I love getting the spines cut off. I put the sheets in page protectors afterwards and into a binder. It feels so freeing to be able to flip through them quickly and take out the pages we need when we need them.

[kdownie]

An iPad (where we could use pdfs) is hopefully in the plans with our tax return.

 

I'm thinking a proclick sounds like something to really start looking into purchasing...maybe another tax return item (i need a big tax return!)

[weederberries]

I have most of my materials sliced and spiral bound with a protective plastic cover. Not only do I slice and bind, but I also redistribute pages as I see fit.

 

When my SOTW Activity book arrived it was HUGE and half of the pages were for student copies. I sliced it and split it. I had the teacher's manual portion spiral bound and left the student pages loose (stored in a folder) for easy copying. I separated all of the maps and copied them right away because we always complete the map for the lessons. I left the other activities and copy as I plan to use them.

 

I spiral bind some of my students' workbooks too. A handwriting book that lies flat is much easier for practice (bind it on the opposite side for a left-hander). Our FLL student books needed to be split into two volumes for manageability.

 

I like that a spiral bound book can be folded back on itself and takes up half of the space on the table. The only "trouble" I have is distinguishing one spiral from another on my shelf. I've pretty much memorized the thicknesses now, but at first, there's a bit of guess work involved in pulling them from the shelf. I've considered tying cute little tags to the spiral, but I quickly learn which is which and don't have much time for cute anymore. ;)

 

I've resold some of my materials to other people and it'll actually get you a bit more money with an individual. If you're selling to a second hand store, they won't offer you as much for a sliced and diced book. I get enough use from our books, so I feel the value/convenience for me outweighs the potential monetary loss.

[weederberries]

I also have several curricula on my ipad and laptop, but some resources, just don't come that way yet.

[alisoncooks]

I spiral bind some of my students' workbooks too. A handwriting book that lies flat is much easier for practice (bind it on the opposite side for a left-hander). Our FLL student books needed to be split into two volumes for manageability.

 

I spiral-bind my student workbooks, too. Our Singapore texts and workbooks work great bound!

[SevenDaisies]

I have the spines cut off and spiral bound because I like the books to lay flat. I thought about putting them in binders, but decided against it because it would take up to much room on my shelf. I don't have a lot of room.

 

I agree. I love the spiral binding and am happy having done it. I also agree with the PDF on iPad. I never thought I would enjoy PDF manuals, but now I buy that format anytime it is available.

[T'smom]

I've cut the spines off and had them spiral bound. Don't regret it at all!

[Um_2_4]

Just did this for the 1st time and I LOVE it! I also bought a used copy of WWE that was already had the student pages removed and hole punched for a binder. I now plan to take the TM part and have it cut and spiral bound, just like I did for WWE2.

[lifesadream83]

Okay... I love the idea of having spines cut off and am so glad to hear that I don't have to do it myself!!! Here is why:

 

Have you ever seen a Sonlight IG? They make life so awesome! I bought used SL IG's for Cores A-F. And then was gifted a newer A. So I took the dividers out of the older A and put the # tabs 1-36 in a separate 2 inch binder. ( I put all my IG's in the same type and size binder for consistency) This year I have been typing all of my own schedule pages that look sort of like the SL ones (Page 1 of 2). So before we start next school year I am going to type up ones for 4th grade and put them in the binder. Then I am going to take all of the books that I have the binding removed from (that are in their own binders now) and lay them out into each week that we will use them (activity sheets, map work, activity pages, handwriting, etc. So all I have to do is look behind the tab for all of that weeks work. Then at the end of the year or quarterly or weekly I can return them if I need to to their original books. You can also take a smaller group of the tabs and work and put them in a smaller binder if you are going on a road trip or visiting. You just take that binder and whatever readers etc you may need.... or if you are like us it just makes it easier to move around the house :)