First off, I want to assure you that what I'm going to talk about is in no way required to have a good school experience. I just love them and they have helped me out a lot in the last few years.
Okay, let's start with the copier. I bought the Canon Image Class D320 about five years ago before I started teaching my first two kids in Kindergarten. I had been drooling over copiers for years. (Don't ask me why, I just love office equipment! haha!) I did my research. I figured out how much it would cost me to make all the copies I had to make at our local library for our first school year. I don't remember what the figure was now, but it was upward of $70. Plus there was the inconvenience of the time involved and the having to run out to make copies. I had flipped through a Staples ad and saw that the Canon D320 was on sale. The original cost was $299 and they had it on sale for $149. Half off!! I couldn't pass that up. That meant in just over two years, I would have paid for my copier and had the convenience of using it at home whenever I felt like it!! -- I also took into consideration the cost of paper and toner. 1. There are always sales on paper (especially if you buy it by the box) and 2. if you get the store brand toner, it's half off. I replace the toner about once every year and a half to two years depending on my copy load ($30 for the replacement cartridge) and I only go through 1 package of paper a school year (sometimes more). That's under $5. I have over 3000 copies on my copy machine since I bought it. Let's just say that copies are $0.20 (I think it is more, but I want to be fair) . That would have been $600 of copies at the library. I have spent $149 for the copier, plus 3 toner cartridges for $90 total, plus a box of paper for $25. Since the beginning of my copier's life, I have spent a total of $264. That's a savings of $336 and counting! Plus, did I mention the convenience??? Having a copier (doesn't need to be fancy) is such a help. I don't know what I'd do without it. Lots of hand-cramping, I'm sure.
Simple. Handy. Love it!! (oh, and my laptop connects up to, so I can print stuff off the internet)
On to my next love: The Thermal Laminator.
If I could, I would laminate EVERYTHING!! But rest assured, I haven't. =) I do use it a lot though. I bought this about three years ago. I have made plenty of things with it (even non-school related). I purchased it at Sam's Club for about $25 and it came with a package of thermal laminating pouches -- 25 I think. Replacement pouches are about $20 for a package of 200.
Oh the things you can make with this bad boy! Not only have I made dry erase-like worksheets for the kids, I have made Bingo games, Flashcards, School room decorations, etc.
Just one of the many, many Bingo games I have made for my kids. This one focuses on the -ai- and -ay words. I have made about 10 of these focusing on different blends, vowel pairs, sight words and so on.
Having them laminated makes them much more durable.
The last of the machines, is FlashMaster. We have owned this for about half a year.
"I think it's fun and it helps you learn your math facts very quickly" says Courtney, a 3rd grader.
"It teaches you billions of math facts," says Kaidin of Alabama.
Gavin claims, "It makes you learn and I like it!"
"It teaches you billions of math facts," says Kaidin of Alabama.
Gavin claims, "It makes you learn and I like it!"
With recommendations like that, How can it be wrong? Haha! Seriously, my kids didn't like to do the drills. But they will sit down and spend 10 to 15 minutes on this handheld everyday. Their math fact knowledge has gone up significantly since they started. It cost about $50. I got mine through Sonlight Curriculum. (I'm sure they sell it elsewhere too.) Personally, for me, it was $50 well spent. No more tears when I say, "It's time to do math facts!" They actually beg to go first. (and if you've read through my blog, yes we have had lots of tears when it comes to school - not all by my children, if you know what I mean.)
As I said at the beginning, these are just great tools. In no way do you need them to do school. They work great for me and I'm glad I have them!
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