I never thought I’d be someone who used digital homeschooling resources—let alone love them.

Even to my detriment, I have always been a very hands-on person. I have an innate desire for things to be tangible and ‘real’. Worlds like ‘Virtual’, ‘Digital’, and ‘download’ fill me with dread.

As you can imagine, this is becoming more of a challenge as the world starts moving further into the digital space. And while there’s plenty to critique about that, it’s not all bad. In the homeschooling world, it’s actually made resources more accessible than ever before.

For a long time, I was hesitant to try any of these options...it just felt too overwhelming.

But since then, I’ve found ways to help digital options feel more ‘real’ in a tangible way, and have discovered a few tricks to make them even more desirable to me than certain physical products. While digital products may never be my first instinct, I have come to really appreciate the unique benefits they offer and have certainly become much more comfortable with them as a medium.

I’ll begin by sharing some of the key factors that helped me confidently use printables in our homeschool, as well as some practical tips for utilizing them—and at the end, I’ll share the small, but surprising, way that they help me the most.

🖨️A Decent Printer Changed Everything

Since I’m primarily talking about digital homeschooling products that are intended to be printed, aka, a ‘printable’, its obvious that one needs access to a printer to be able to utilize them. For a long time, this was an initial step that held me back. We either didn’t have one at all, or we had the cheapest $40 model that was a continuous pain to work with.

The big turn around for me? Buying a decent printer.

You likely don’t need a super-fancy printer, but it really does help to have one that can connect to the internet and print multiple double sided pages seamlessly. Some of my difficulties with digital products melted away once I finally had a painless way to print them!

And while this has easily been the biggest factor in changing my comfort level with digital resources, there are a lot of options available to people with different needs and preferences.

💡 Bonus: Practical Tips for Printing and Alternatives

✨Printing at home isn't always practical or possible. It wasn’t for me for many years! In some cases, using a printing service can make more sense. Here are some options for people without printers or those who prefer a service to handle the technical aspects.

• Staples or UPS Store – Great for quick turnaround; bring your own paper to save a little.

• Local Libraries – Often cheaper (or free!) for small jobs, especially if you just need a few pages.

• Watson Family Press – A small business offering affordable color printing. Great if you can plan ahead.

• Local Print shops - In my area there are a few local print shops that actually cater to homeschoolers (we live in a homeschool friendly area). They frequently have better rates and bonus services, so its worth checking your area!

Sometimes, you can even have the printing service bind your book for you. Some families choose to print PDF curriculums this way precisely because they can outsource the binding, even when they have a home printer.

✨Many homeschoolers view buying a printer as a helpful investment, budget allowing. Here are some homeschooler approved tips!

• Epson EcoTank – More expensive upfront but only needs ink once a year! (A friend printed 3,000 pages on one set.)

• HP Instant Ink – Monthly subscription. Cancel anytime.

• Watch for Sales – You can often find HP printers under $70 at Walmart or Target.

When we were in the market for a printer, my husband found a steeply discounted floor model of a laser printer. Its a little older, but laser printers are durable and their toner lasts a long time - so it was a great solution for us!

✨Digital-Only Option
If printing isn’t feasible right now, you can always use a tablet and a free app like Good Notes, Notability, or any PDF reader with a drawing tool. Many families do a hybrid—print what you need and use the rest digitally.

🪴A Mindset Shift

This may seem really obvious, but it dawned on me one day that printables are just as tangible as a book before it is printed.

For some reason, reframing a digital product this way made it seem less foreign. Recognizing that the content creators are usually putting the same care and effort into it that they would for a physical product helped too—they’re just passing the savings on materials and shipping to me!

When I started viewing digital resources as a real, flexible tool—not some “lesser version” of physical books—I finally felt ready to try them.

☑️What Finally Won Me Over

In general, I need something to motivate me to move outside my comfort zone. These are some of the key reasons that pushed me to finally give printables a chance:

💰Cost effective - many homeschool curriculums offer discounted (or even free!) PDF curriculum or resources. Digital resources are always less expensive than physical ones!

⏲️Efficiency - with multiple children, it is so helpful to be able to print as many copies as we need. This might be all at once, or the next year when another child is ready for it.

🖨️Easy to replace – If my toddler spills coffee all over the homeschool table (which happens), I don’t have to panic. I just reprint it.

👩‍🔧Updates - Unlike when physical curriculum is revised, when a digital resource is updated or corrected, you generally receive the new edition for free as part of your original purchase.

😇Variety - As opposed to being limited by what's available in a physical format, it’s easier to find niche Catholic printables—like a coloring sheet for an obscure feast day, Catholic Valentines, or something tied to the Sunday Mass readings.

🗂️How I Organize Printables

As I mentioned before, part of what made digital products more palatable to me was finding familiar ways to use them. Obviously, once printed, these become physical products - but if your planning on printing a whole course book it can be overwhelming to have a big stack of loose papers at the end. Similarly, even a few loose papers for smaller projects get lost in the shuffle without a plan in place.

There are many options to ‘bind’ your own books at home, but here are a few of my favorite ways to use them.

• 📒Disc bound - This method allows you to easily add and remove pages, flip 360°, and reuse the setup. It does require a special hole punch and discs, but it’s surprisingly affordable compared to other binding machines.

• 📖Menus - I first saw this method at a friends house for their morning menu, and I was in love. This is great for morning menu printables, but also any other smaller printable set. We also like this for adding the kids daily lists so that they can check off with dry erase markers!

• 📙Staples - super basic, but highly effective. If I’m printing off a seasonal set of coloring pages or activities, its easiest to throw a few staples along the edge.

• 📝Loose - For immediate use, I print and let the kids use them freely. Finished pages either go on the fridge or get tucked away in the small file folder I keep nearby for items that we’d like to save.

🖍️One Surprising Benefit I Really Didn’t Expect

This is the first year that I branched off and selected a few completely digital resources. I no longer feel heavily burdened by the idea, I’ve actually found that it is mentally freeing in many ways!

But here’s my absolute favorite reason I’ve come to love printables: my toddler.

While I can’t claim to have cracked the code on how to homeschool with a toddler, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this discovery! While every family is different, here is what has been working for my little guy as of late:

I print extra copies of my kindergartener’s Little Lessons curriculum, give them to my toddler at school time, and let him go to town. He very studiously does his “school” for a good portion of our work time, and absolutely lights up when I give him simplified instructions.

He is about to turn 3, and would be insulted if I gave him anything other than the exact same work that his older brother is doing. Because its a printable, I can simply make an extra copy of the same pages for him. This helps him feel included, keeps him happy, and gives him structured creative time as well.

🌻If You’re Still Hesitant...

I get it. I really do. Digital products used to make me cringe. But now? I use them every day. If you’re still unsure, just try printing one thing—maybe a freebie you’ve been eyeing—and see how it feels. You might be surprised, too.