I love books! I really do. I like holding an actual book in my hands and flipping the pages. I like to be able to provide my kids with learning opportunities and adventures just by grabbing a book off the shelf. I like that I have bookshelves full of books.
Except we are running out of room. And my husband is getting a little irritated because there are books all over the house – in the school room, in the family room, in the bedrooms, and even in the bathroom. It probably doesn’t help that my husband is all about digitalizing (is that a word?) whenever and wherever possible, and he has been trying to convince me of this for years.
Well, I’ve been coming around the last couple of years and buying more and more digital books and curriculum if that option is offered for the particular resource I’m buying. I have discovered that there are several good reasons to go digital (besides to appease my husband), and here are the top benefits I’ve found to buying digital homeschool curriculum –
It takes up less space
This is a pretty obvious reason. I only have so much shelf room in my home. I used to review curriculum and I’m a curriculum junkie; I like to try out new curriculum quite often so my shelves are pretty packed. And with seven children to homeschool, I am often buying something for someone for school. Buying digital allows me to buy more resources even if I don’t have the space.
It’s reproducible
This is a big deal for our family, and it ties into the next reason. If I can buy a resource or curriculum in digital form, that means I never have to buy it again! If it would normally be a consumable workbook or worktext in its physical form, that would mean I’d have to buy it again when the next kid is ready to use it, and so on. And this also allows us to only print out pages we need and will be using in our studies, instead of wasting worksheets if we don’t need them or want to skip them.
It’s cheaper
Since digital curriculum can be used over and over again and can be printed and reprinted for each of my kids that use it, I don’t have to buy additional copies for subsequent kids. This saves us a lot of money. Also, when you are purchasing curriculum and both a digital and physical option are available, the digital option is usually a bit cheaper, plus you’ll save on shipping costs and you get it right away.
It won’t get worn, ripped, or lost
You don’t have to worry about digital curriculum getting worn out from use, pages torn, milk getting spilled on a grammar workbook, or the current read aloud getting lost. All if it is safe and sound on your computer or storage device (you should probably make a back-up copy to just in case; technology isn’t perfect).
It’s portable
You can easily take your homeschool or studies with you when you use digital resources. This is especially beneficial to the family that is always on the go – going to co-op, hockey practice, piano lessons, or just having to take a long car ride or waiting at the doctor’s office. Why not use those blocks of time for some reading or schoolwork – especially for the sibling(s) that gets dragged along. And if you are a family that moves a lot, digital curriculum can be a lifesaver – so much less to pack!
Here are a few of my favorite publishers that offer digital products –
Peace Hill Press (Story of the World, First Language Lessons, and Writing with Ease from the Well-Trained Mind)
Bright Ideas Press (Mystery of History, Wonder Maps, Christian Kids Explore Science)
Homeschool in the Woods
A Journey Through Learning
CurrClick
Home School Adventure Co.
Grapevine Studies
Progeny Press
Truth Quest History
Teaching Textbooks
This sounds like a great deal that I’ll be looking into. We do a lot of kindle books so the kids can share (and they require less space and money!). I bet some of those bundle resources could be put on a kindle!
I tried a digital teacher’s manual last year, and it was a huge source of frustration. My kindle kept returning to the beginning of the pdf. So I tried using my husband’s tablet, and that wasn’t much better. Digital sounds good in theory, but I’ll wait for the technology to improve and stop wasting my teaching time.