making copies...how do you decide?

[ProudGrandma]

What are your guidelines when it comes to deciding whether or not to copy workbooks for your kids?  How much does your time and effort play into your decision?  The workbooks my kids used to use (because they were much younger) were cheaper than the ones that we using now.  The price difference between buying each kid one and copying it is HUGE (cheaper by far to make copies), but the time it will take me is crazy...so I was just curious how you all decide.

 

 

[HomeAgain]

Depends on how much of a headache it will give me.  If we're not using the whole book, or it's easy to copy, I'll do so.  Or ones I know my kids would like to do over and over (like Critical Thinking Company exercises).  Others are too much frustration.  I don't make copies from my SOTW activity books.  I'd rather buy the pdfs or pre-printed sheets.  Why?  Because the shadow I get when I try to keep the book intact is annoying.  I have older spiral bound SOTW books, but I've never found one of the activity books the same way.  If I did I'd just make copies.

[OneStepAtATime]

If you want to be scientific about it. list all your pros and cons and weight them.  (Consider that your time for copying is also labor lost so factor that in as time a paid teacher would be compensated financially through her salary.  In other words, the cost of the copying isn't just the cost of the ink and paper, but your time spent as well.)  Then look over that list.

 

Or you can just look at your budget for homeschooling and think "What would I rather use that money for? Or is my valuable time worth buying the workbooks instead of copying?"

[mountains27]

The books I currently take the time to copy are the Beast Academy workbooks and WWE. I copy these because I feel like these have a higher value to me, I like these materials and want to reuse them :)

As a side note, I like to buy as many ebooks as I can because I feel like this is a easier way to reuse material.

Edited March 8, 2016 by mountains27

[Alessandra]

I would never, ever copy a lot of pages from a bound book. No patience!

 

For books with perforated pages or easily removable pages, I may remove the pages and scan the entire book. I can put all the pages in my printer and scan double sided into a PDF. I will them print out pages as needed for kid and use a copy on my iPad if I need to refer to it.

 

Fwiw, I am more apt to scan a book that we use on and off, like some logic books, so that I can just use the pages we need without having the whole book taking up space. On the other hands, books that we use from cover to cover, in order, like math books, I don't scan, because I want to preserve the flow of the text.

[Rachel]

Depends on what it is. I have bought SOTW PDFs. I use a sheet protector on Miquon books. I don't make a ton of copies if I can avoid it.

[happypamama]

It depends on how expensive it is to replace and how much hassle. It wasn't worth my time or money to copy the Singapore workbooks when we used those, so I figured I'd just buy new ones if needed, although I have my son do the Intensive Practice pages on separate paper. I'm trying to decide what to do with my SOTW2 map pages. I don't want to copy from that large bound book, but I also don't want to rip them out. I'm thinking it might just be worthy my money to buy the PDF of those.

[Peaceful Isle]

Just being honest here...

 

I will make copies of the first pages if it has erased pencil on it. So let's say I bought the book used, and the first ten pages have "erased" pencil on it, I will copy those pages so my child has clean pages to work on.

 

Other than that, I'm not a big copier. I will print work pages off the computer from PDFs , or free printable, or if I find a workbook online.

The whole set of Math for a Living Education was up for free on the authors website for a while, so of course I downloaded all of them. Also,I will print off my Essentials in Writing pages.

 

I also make copies freely of story of the world pages, because I know it is permitted.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Peacefulisle

[3 ladybugs]

I copy most books. There are days where he isn't getting a topic and we need to redo the whole day's worth of knowledge. Those times I am glad I have copies as then I can just have him do the prior lesson over again and he normally gets it. 

 

 

[Julie of KY]

Depends on the copyright and the price.

 

[prairiewindmomma]

1. I look to the copyright allowances. No permission = no copying.

2. If I purchased it .pdf, I tend to print it, because it's .002/page for me to do so.

3. If I am allowed to photocopy and it's cost effective to do so, I tend to have the bindings cut, and then I zip it through the photocopier at a copy store. Ain't nobody got time to hand tear each page out or use an x-acto knife. It's on average $2 to have a binding cut off.

4. My exceptions: handwriting books (I want the thicker, nicer paper for beginning writers), color pages where the color matters (this goes to cost effectiveness), and materials for one particular child with vision, motor, and executive functioning issues.  He needs everything securely bound and tends to do better with originals.  I've tried pro-clicks, spiral bindings, and tape bindings, and there's some je ne sais quois with him that I just buy him his own workbooks.

 

A decade ago, you would've found me x-acto knife and plastic pockets in hand, but no more.  My time is too valuable now. In my head, I bill out my hourly rate at about $20/hr.  If I can find someone to do a task for me for less than that, I tend to hire the job out. I am putting in 15 hour days with my current set of homeschooling/parenting/other responsibilities and I'm no longer willing to work for an hour to save $4.

[My4arrows]

If the copyright allows, then typically I will copy since I will use it over and over again with all the kids.  If the copyright doesn't allow me to, then I won't copy and then I consider cost of the book and then decide if its worth the cost to buy new ones for each child.

[fairy4tmama]

 

A decade ago, you would've found me x-acto knife and plastic pockets in hand, but no more.  My time is too valuable now. In my head, I bill out my hourly rate at about $20/hr.  If I can find someone to do a task for me for less than that, I tend to hire the job out. I am putting in 15 hour days with my current set of homeschooling/parenting/other responsibilities and I'm no longer willing to work for an hour to save $4.

THIS

We are on a really tight budget but my time is worth money (generally that time copying = time I could be working). 

[PeterPan]

If it's legal to copy it, I cut the binding off and run through a machine that can do both sides.  Easy peasy.  I have older teachers materials (Evan Moor, etc.) like that.  

Edited March 9, 2016 by OhElizabeth

[kbutton]

My son has a couple of books he's had to copy (legally), and he does it himself. It makes him feel like a boss, and he's figured out (mostly) two-sided printing. If I had to copy a lot of pages, I would not likely do it. I would look to purchase a .pdf of the curriculum if it's available, or I would consider buying a new book for each kid. It really depends on the scale of the resource.

 

I bought a great printer that's economical, and I buy a lot more e-books than I used to for this reason. It's far cheaper if more than one child will use the material.

[MerryAtHope]

I don't copy workbooks, too frustrating to me! I would print out a PDF versus purchasing a workbook sometimes though (plus PDF books tend to have copyright rules that allow copies for one family, and not all workbooks do that). Printing a PDF is so much easier than photocopying!

Edited March 9, 2016 by MerryAtHope

[Squawky Acres]

I don't copy workbooks.  I believe the copyright rarely allows it, and it is certainly not worth my time.  My kids also enjoy having their own shiny new workbooks, and I like having all of their work bound together so that I do not lose pages of it.  If I buy a PDF of a curriculum (such as Treasured Conversations), I will send it to the local copy shop to be printed out and bound. 

 

The only exception is if I'm just trying out a curriculum for a younger child.  I may copy to the first few pages of a workbook to see if it is a good fit.  If it works out for us, then I will buy the additional workbooks.

[*Jessica*]

The whole set of Math for a Living Education was up for free on the authors website for a while, so of course I downloaded all of them.

These look interesting, but are they worth the $35 they cost now? I wish I had seen them when they were free! Kicking myself.

[Peaceful Isle]

These look interesting, but are they worth the $35 they cost now? I wish I had seen them when they were free! Kicking myself.

Well, depends I guess. They are definitely more relaxed style of math, with a story line. :)

[Hunter]

I stopped using workbooks. That took care of that problem. :lol:

[sweetpea3829]

I don't photocopy my workbooks (generally).  

 

I remove the binding, three-hole punch the pages and the kids complete them in dry erase pockets with vis-a-vis wet erase markers.  Then I clean them off, put the kid's initial in the upper corner (so I know who did what) and refile the page back in the binder for the next kid.  

 

It's legwork...takes more time than I would like.  Sometimes I have dreams of just buying all shiny new workbooks for each kid, every year.  And then I look at my bank account and...nope...dry erase pockets it is!