You shouldn't need a printer for homeschooling

[KateBlush]

DC Y3. 30 plus pages of print outs sent out today via Google Classrooms. Nothing is interactive/ editable online. We don't have a printer and get through life the rest of the time perfectly well. IABU to expect school to try a bit harder to set more work that doesn't have to printed out/ transposed by parents to paper in order to complete?

Yes I agree we have a printer with a set amount of ink we pay for per month, we’ve doubled the amount we pay and still it isn’t enough. My older two are being asked to print 30 pages at a time it’s never ending. There’s no way they can copy it all out either.

@pinbinpin

This again. Just order a 30 quid one off Amazon or make do. Is it really worth a whinge?

I WFH so have a printer and will happily print things for people, ask on local facebook or make the busy and stressed teachers do it ...

thats really unfair, first of all 30 quid is a lot more money to some people than others. Secondly it isnt "just" 30 quid - it is 30 quid plus the price of ink cartridges and pens. Thirdly, people have been buying up printers left right and centre and the first ones to get sold out are the cheaper ones. I could go on, but I won't. Your other suggestions are actually good - but I wouldnt make the OP feel guilty for "making" the "busy and stressed" teachers do it. As others have pointed out they may well already be doing this for other people so they would be my first choice. You could also ask around, but the problem is you dont need people to agree to it as a one of favour - you will be asking them to print what sounds like many sheets a day for weeks. It might be harder to find people willing to sign up for that.

I also think that if you think the definition of "vulnerable" children is merely those who cant afford to buy a printer and large amounts of ink and cartridges at short notice then you are really really underinformed about the levels of poverty in this country.

I think ours have learned a lot from last year. There are clearer instructions, tasks are set per day, not a job lot on Monday. And much less needs printing!

If you get a PDF markup app you can write, draw or type in boxes over a pDF document and save it with your markups. We use Bluebeam Revu at work but there must be free/non commercial options.

If you use google you can use the kami ap to write on pdfs. This is what I get my online students to use.

Yanbu.
I do have a printer but we don't have Microsoft so the dc's sometimes struggle editing documents.

@geogteach

If you use google you can use the kami ap to write on pdfs. This is what I get my online students to use.

Is that google class rooms?

Our school have set it up so printing if you can, but you can do the work without the need to. It also gives the option with printing to free up screen time if youve got multiple kids too.

Before you look for reasons to scoff, read people's posts properly. I said children in households without access to WiFi are considered disadvantaged, which they are, not children in houses without a printer.

What if you have multiple kids and no printer?

@ThatBitch

We just write out the answers the scan them on iPhone notes and submit. Dd reads the questions online. No printing needed.

thank you!

Will look at onenote, thanks.

@Crunchymum

What if you have multiple kids and no printer?

There are laptops that the school are lending out in certain circumstances. They know the families with more than two kids and have a particular need. They proactively sorted this out in September.

.

Take screensnaps. Edit on top of the screensnaps.

A mix is good so that children can practice handwriting, everything I do is online now and when I have to write something my hand gets so tired lol.

We write out the work and photograph it to upload

Good luck trying to get a £30 printer on Amazon today

I run a professional services business from home and haven't had a printer for 2 years!

As mentioned above, just scan to a PDF on a free mobile phone app and send it by email.

No wonder printers are all out of stock

If anyone is going to try the PDF scan method, btw, the advantage over photos is that it's possible to scan multiple sheets into one PDF so you have only one file to upload, which contains everything, rather than a series of photos. It works very well.

I was lucky enough to get a printer at the beginning of last lockdown. HP Printer cost £36 and I pay £1.99 for 50 prints a month. Ink just comes when it runs out.

The pages you don't use roll over too. I was lucky as it came with 200 free prints for the first 3 months!

But we don't print everything, just do a mix of stuff

Totally agree with you. I spent a fortune on toner when my 3 primary kids were off from mid March till end of June.

Im dreading homeschooling again.......

ONENOTE IS A TOTAL GAMECHANGER! Thank you a thousand times.

Also discovered that opting to print in Google Docs and then using 'draw' tool allows DC to mark up worksheets, if not add text - OneNote sorts that though.

My google classroom has a pencil symbol on the top right in the title bar when you go into the assignment. This makes the document editable on the tablet and we submit no printing involved