Buying a printed version of your curriculum is very tempting because it looks so beautiful, but printing it yourself is more affordable.
Many homeschool moms buy PDFs and use that to make printed copies. If you buy PDFs, you can also use the material on-screen with your children, and you can print multiple copies as well.
This is very handy when you are homeschooling multiple children.
In this article, we will discuss what equipment you need for home printing your homeschool curriculum, and we also discuss what printing companies you can use to help your pocket and what they have to offer.
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The Best Options For Printing from home
Whether you decide to print your curriculum or not, you will most likely need a printer for all your other printing, like workbooks and worksheets. Let’s look at the basic equipment you need for your homeschool printing tasks.
A printer
When it comes to printers, the main choice is between an inkjet and a laser printer. Both have their good and bad points.
Inkjet printers are usually cheaper to buy, but they cost more to operate. If you don’t plan to print much, this could be the option for you. If you want to keep the cost per page as low as possible, you should go with a laser printer.
Laser printers print and duplicate faster, plus the ink lasts long, but the laser printer cartridges cost more than the inkjet cartridges.
Laser printers excel at printing documents, while inkjets excel at printing photos. If you are tight for space, consider an inkjet printer – they tend to take up less space.
Printers to consider
Epson EcoTank ET-M1170 Wireless Monochrome Supertank Printer with Ethernet PLUS 2 Years of Unlimited Ink
Canon G7020 All-in-One Printer for Home Office
HP OfficeJet 5255 All-in-One Printer with Mobile Printing, Instant Ink Ready
One of the good things about owning an HP printer is that they are one of the most affordable and durable brands on the market and the best part is that they have an ink subscription that is very affordable and to be honest as a homeschool you can’t beat the price.
2. A binding machine
The ProClick Binding Machine comes highly recommended. You can punch six pages at a time with this slim gadget that takes up so little space on a desk. You can use it to spiral bind small and large projects, all the notebooks for your kids, etc. Anything that you bind will last longer.
3. A laminator
A laminator is an essential tool for your homeschool. You can laminate anything that you want to keep and reuse like flashcards or worksheets and book covers. There are many options to choose from.
4. Paper
There is so much to choose from and one wants to use heavier paper, but that can add to costs.
Understand that most of the work your kids will do can be on standard paper, which is really good enough for most tasks.
Most homeschoolers use cardstock for book covers and flashcards and standard paper for worksheets. It really is up to you. The heavier paper looks nicer and lasts longer but it’s more expensive in the long run.
5. A paper cutter
Get yourself a paper cutter, it beats a pair of scissors anytime for trimming pages and making things look neat and professional. And they are very affordable.
Homeschool Printing Printing Companies Review and Prices
Family Nest Printing Company
If you have a PDF, picture, words pretty much anything, Family Nest Printing can print it for you, but the upload limit is 5GB.
The current order turnaround time is 1-2 weeks. The turnaround time is from when the printer receives the order to when it ships. The company doesn’t guarantee that it can deliver within the listed turnaround time.
Shipping costs vary depending on the size of the order, and customers can choose between lower-cost standard shipping and faster priority shipping. The same applies to international shipping.
The Homeschool Printing Company
Homeschool Printing Company is a small printing company run by homeschoolers for homeschoolers, but they serve anybody.
They can print any PDF whether for your homeschool or your office. The company offers very affordable prices and high-quality prints.
You can order black and white or color copies, one or two-sided pages, spiral-binding with clear plastic covers, lamination, and 3-hole punched paper.
Currently, their turnaround time for getting an order printed and shipped is about 12 to 14 weeks. This is due to extremely high order volumes as a result of the recent sharp increase in homeschooling.
The orders are shipped with USPS and you only do the payment once you have received the package.
The webpage has a handy estimate button where you can fill in your order and get an estimate of how much the printing and shipping will cost before you finalize your order.
Shipping is based on the size and weight of your order and you can choose between economy and expedited shipping.
Barnes and Noble
You can print and bind your student books and teacher’s guide through Barnes & Noble using Barnes & Noble Press.
Here is a video on how to print and bind your own beautiful books at a very reasonable price.
You can also make use of the Print Books on Demand service in store if you want to make a physical print book of a hard-to-find book, a Public Domain title or if you want to publish your own book. Books on Demand services are available at Barnes & Noble in Union Square, NYC, Paramus, NJ and Willow Grove, PA.
FedEx
FedEx offers full-service and self-service printing. You can visit them on site and they will help you print documents from the cloud, USB or email.
The quickest way to get your stuff printed at a FedEx Office near you, is to email your files to them, then go to the self-service area and print them.
You can also take files on a USB flash drive to the store and print them there. You can also access files from the Cloud to print.
FedEx offers a range of professional binding options, including staple, comb, spiral-bound, saddle stitch and 3-ring binders. They also offer various paper and card stock covers, including white paper, colored paper, card stock and more.
The pricing depends on the file size, the paper and finishing options you choose, and the pickup location.
For an estimation of the cost, upload your files and select your print options.
Staples
Staples offers self-service and full-service printing options and you can place an order online or in-store.
In the store, you can access the cloud, make copies, and scan documents. The copying services offer full color and black & white copies. Machine collating and stapling, single-sided and double-sided make your task of creating beautiful books and worksheets easier. Paper sizes include 8.5″ x 11″, 8.5″ x 14″ and 11″ x 17″.
Staples sends your order directly to your home or you can pick it up from the store. Delivery times and shipping costs vary depending on the delivery option you choose and the shipping location. You can consult a chart for more information on their Q&A page. Shipping is free for orders of $35, and more.
When it comes to printing, many homeschoolers choose to print from home as the equipment pays for itself if you homeschool multiple children for their entire school education. For most printing jobs, printing from home works out the cheapest in the long run.
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