Kindle Based HomeSchool Resources

As a homeschool mom of six, I know how important it is to be able to make copies. Usually, I will copy a work book page multiple times so that my child can have some busy work or extra practice. Often, I fall in love with a resource and want to use it for the younger children. I have learned to keep these books and copy them because publishers simply stop producing the materials as State and National requirements change. Sometimes, I make copies because from a budget consideration it is too expensive to buy three or four of the same workbook.

But, happily, I was wrong. There are three known ways to make copies from your Kindle Device of any homeschool resource you may purchase.
• The first of these is old school! Take your device to a copier, lay it down on the platten. Press copy! Whallah! I chuckled at this as I would not have thought of it... well maybe if I became desparate.
• You can also take a screenshot on the page you are viewing on your device. Simply press Alt and Shift and G all at once. Screenshots are actually pictures files (.gif type) and are stored in the "documents" folder. Once your image is in the folder, you can access them via your PCs image processing software. MS Paint is standard on any PC. But I recommend you get something like GIMP. It is as powerful as Photoshop BUT it is FREE! Who doesn't love a great Free product?
• The third way is to simply leverage the convenience of the "My Notes and Marks" capability of the device. Highlight the text you want and it will be stored in the documents folder as editable text. These documents can be opened in any wordprocessing software like Word, WordPerfect, OpenOffice Writer (another powerful freebie. Better than Word in my opinion), WordPad and NotePad (these last two are standard on any PC).
• The final idea is to download the Kindle For PC Software from Amazon. It is free and allows you to view all your Kindle purchases on you laptop or desktop. This is actually what I have. My daughter has a first generation Kindle that she borrowed from her friend. The application is a great tool if at this time you cannot afford the device. And if you do have the device it lets you easily manipulate your files as you do not need to connect to another machine. So basically, having the software makes it easier for you to take screen shots of open pages.

None of the above mentioned ideas is an ideal replacement for a real book; especially if the document you are reading has a lot of pictures or other graphics. Still, the Kindle and its eBooks can be a fantastic resource to you as the teacher if you are willing to go with a little imperfection to save a lot of money long term. And do not forget how many books you can fit on the Kindle.

Here is a list of free and low cost Unit Studies By Pattie Dickinson for the Kindle.