Preprinted vs. Download

[Mechelle Eggers]

I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on the cost of buying already printed lapbooks vs. buying the download and printing yourself. Is it, especially when having to print in color, cheaper to buy the preprinted lessons and templates from a site such as HOAC or cheaper to by the downloaded version and do all the printing yourself?

[Rebecca]

Pro / con : printed & downloads
If the price of download is less than 1/2 of the price I usually go ahead and download and print one hard copy. I also go ahead and save to disk for back up. Because if you have a copier at home then you can pick out only the fold and copy on color paper. If you only have a printer at home then you should think about where you will make copies of the folds so that you can reuse you project packs. Thanks so much for you time.

[Cariann]

I was shopping at a local educational supply shop and thought about getting a preprinted lapbook then decided if I wanted to do that I should order it online and download to print myself. I have 2 boys ages 5 1/2 and 2 1/2, if I download a file I can print it in a couple years for the younger one. I would rather download/purchase and use it mulitple times then only use it once... Thank goodness for the digital age...

[Tina in WA]

I enjoy having a ebook or cd. That way I can print out what I need. With either format you choose to prucahse; ebook, cd, printed, you will still need to make your own copies (expception, see below).

HOAC lapbooks are not in color. Knowledge Box and Live and Learn's are in color. Something to keep in mind is that even though they coming with colored graphics, they still print out nicely on colored paper using black and white ink.

Lynn brings up a good point. Some companies don't allow you to make copies of the printed books (Live and Learn is one of them). They feel that those are intended for 1 use only. HOAC allows you to print of as many copies as you would like of the graphic only, on any format you choose. You can print for your family and/or a co-op class. You can't reprint the guide.

[Lynn]

I have never bought the preprinted lapbooks, but here are a couple things to consider. 1. If you have more than 1 child or you believe you may use it again, you can get multiple uses out of a download version. 2. You do not have to print in color, I almost never do. 3. You may not want to do ever single activity in the lapbook, so it would save money if you only print out what you want. 4. There are TONS of free laplooks out there for download, if you look around, you may find one you like for free. Just a few thoughts. I hope this helps.