Homeschooling Mom Here, Newbie

featheredfarmer · 11-25-2010, 11:17 AM

Hi All,
Just here to introduce myself.
I am a homeschooling Mom. I am looking for an ereaders for my son, myself,
and an my father.

From what I have been reading so far, it sounds like android is the way to go with the market changing so fast.

My son and I will need note and highlighting capabilities for academic purposes. Dad, well, just something simple to operate.

Obviously, we can't spend a fortune on these things, economy the way it is. Homeschooling for an avid reader is an expensive proposition.
Any suggestions, or pointing in a direction on this forum would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Thanks, this forum looks like a fantastic resource of up to day information.

FeatheredFarmer and son

desertgrandma · 11-25-2010, 11:23 AM

Welcome to MobileRead, featheredfarmer and son.

happy_terd · 11-25-2010, 02:06 PM

Hello and welcome to MR!!!

ImogenRose · 11-26-2010, 01:47 PM

Hello and welcome to MR!

Imogen

MickeyC · 11-26-2010, 02:01 PM

Hi and welcome to MR

neilmarr · 11-26-2010, 02:44 PM

Good to have your company, FeatheredFarmer (and son). You should have little trouble finding what you both need. Best wishes. Neil

Elfwreck · 11-26-2010, 03:01 PM

Hi, featheredfarmer! I homeschooled my daughters for a bit more than three years, and ebooks were a large part of how we managed.

Unfortunately, there are no ereader devices that are really good for academic use. The best are probably the tablets, like the android you're looking at. A laptop or netbook is probably better for notes/annotations/additional research, but might not be better enough when balanced against the larger size and being more bulky to use.

The best way to use ebooks for education is on a computer, whether that's desktop or laptop. That way you can have a word-processing program to write an essay while the book is open, or a note-taking program, or compare ranked lists of books, or whatever. (I'm not saying, "you should use a computer." I'm saying, "if you've looked at ereaders and can't find one that seems to fit what you need--it's not just you. They really aren't well designed for educational use.")

For "simple to operate," look to the Kindle. They're inexpensive, have basic web access, and are designed for people who don't really understand ebooks or technical issues. And there's the access to the Amazon store, which includes a lot of free ebooks. (My older daughter has a Kindle, but it's not hooked up to an Amazon account; she can't buy or download Amazon books. Still, she's *constantly* reading it; access to the websites with fiction collections are as good as downloaded books to her.)

Are you familiar with plenty of sources for free ebooks? Some of the best are here at Mobileread; these are hand-formatted by people who know & love ebooks. For others, there's always Project Gutenberg, and places like Feedbooks that have creative commons releases as well as public domain books.

TGS · 11-26-2010, 03:30 PM

Hello featherdfarmer and welcome to Mobileread. Karma coming your way for taking on the task of homeschooling. As to what the best kind of device is - most of the ebooks I have read have been on a computer. I did buy a large screen reader when I was doing my postgrad work, and it's nice to have the portability but you cannot do half as much on it as you can on a computer. If you could afford it the ideal would be a smallish ereader -something like the new Sony 650 and a netbook I would guess.

desertblues · 11-26-2010, 05:09 PM

Hi Featherdfarmer and son. Welcom to MR from the Netherlands. Lots of free books and advice to find in the fora.

featheredfarmer · 11-30-2010, 02:58 AM

Elfwreck,
Thank you very much for your insight. All these choices are very confusing. You insight has been quite helpful.

featheredfarmer · 11-30-2010, 03:03 AM

TGS,
Thank you for you help. I am sure in the next year there will be huge advances in these readers and tablets. It looks like the ideal is still out of my price range so a compromise is in order. Thanks again.

GeoffC · 11-30-2010, 05:00 AM

Welcome to mobileread ....

Hope you find something suitable....A couple of links for readers are to be found in my signature line...

11-25-2010, 11:17 AM	#1
featheredfarmer Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 1174 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: NH Device: none	Homeschooling Mom Here, Newbie Hi All, Just here to introduce myself. I am a homeschooling Mom. I am looking for an ereaders for my son, myself, and an my father. From what I have been reading so far, it sounds like android is the way to go with the market changing so fast. My son and I will need note and highlighting capabilities for academic purposes. Dad, well, just something simple to operate. Obviously, we can't spend a fortune on these things, economy the way it is. Homeschooling for an avid reader is an expensive proposition. Any suggestions, or pointing in a direction on this forum would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thanks, this forum looks like a fantastic resource of up to day information. FeatheredFarmer and son

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11-25-2010, 11:23 AM	#2
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	Welcome to MobileRead, featheredfarmer and son.

11-25-2010, 02:06 PM	#3
happy_terd Banned Posts: 13,045 Karma: 10105011 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Finally made it to Walmart. Device: PRS 420	Hello and welcome to MR!!!

11-26-2010, 01:47 PM	#4
ImogenRose PORTAL Posts: 7,204 Karma: 2884640 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Kindle 1, Kindle 3 (3G), iPhone	Hello and welcome to MR! Imogen

11-26-2010, 02:01 PM	#5
MickeyC Grand Sorcerer Posts: 16,731 Karma: 12185114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida Device: iPhone 6 plus, Sony T1, iPad 3	Hi and welcome to MR

11-26-2010, 02:44 PM	#6
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Good to have your company, FeatheredFarmer (and son). You should have little trouble finding what you both need. Best wishes. Neil

11-26-2010, 03:01 PM	#7
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,187 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	Hi, featheredfarmer! I homeschooled my daughters for a bit more than three years, and ebooks were a large part of how we managed. Unfortunately, there are no ereader devices that are really good for academic use. The best are probably the tablets, like the android you're looking at. A laptop or netbook is probably better for notes/annotations/additional research, but might not be better enough when balanced against the larger size and being more bulky to use. The best way to use ebooks for education is on a computer, whether that's desktop or laptop. That way you can have a word-processing program to write an essay while the book is open, or a note-taking program, or compare ranked lists of books, or whatever. (I'm not saying, "you should use a computer." I'm saying, "if you've looked at ereaders and can't find one that seems to fit what you need--it's not just you. They really aren't well designed for educational use.") For "simple to operate," look to the Kindle. They're inexpensive, have basic web access, and are designed for people who don't really understand ebooks or technical issues. And there's the access to the Amazon store, which includes a lot of free ebooks. (My older daughter has a Kindle, but it's not hooked up to an Amazon account; she can't buy or download Amazon books. Still, she's constantly reading it; access to the websites with fiction collections are as good as downloaded books to her.) Are you familiar with plenty of sources for free ebooks? Some of the best are here at Mobileread; these are hand-formatted by people who know & love ebooks. For others, there's always Project Gutenberg, and places like Feedbooks that have creative commons releases as well as public domain books.

11-26-2010, 03:30 PM	#8
TGS Country Member Posts: 9,058 Karma: 7676767 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Denmark Device: Liseuse: Irex DR800. PRS 505 in the house, and the missus has an iPad.	Hello featherdfarmer and welcome to Mobileread. Karma coming your way for taking on the task of homeschooling. As to what the best kind of device is - most of the ebooks I have read have been on a computer. I did buy a large screen reader when I was doing my postgrad work, and it's nice to have the portability but you cannot do half as much on it as you can on a computer. If you could afford it the ideal would be a smallish ereader -something like the new Sony 650 and a netbook I would guess.

11-26-2010, 05:09 PM	#9
desertblues Home for the moment Posts: 5,127 Karma: 27718936 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: travelling Device: various	Hi Featherdfarmer and son. Welcom to MR from the Netherlands. Lots of free books and advice to find in the fora.

11-30-2010, 02:58 AM	#10
featheredfarmer Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 1174 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: NH Device: none	Elfwreck, Thank you very much for your insight. All these choices are very confusing. You insight has been quite helpful.

11-30-2010, 03:03 AM	#11
featheredfarmer Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 1174 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: NH Device: none	TGS, Thank you for you help. I am sure in the next year there will be huge advances in these readers and tablets. It looks like the ideal is still out of my price range so a compromise is in order. Thanks again.

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11-30-2010, 05:00 AM	#12
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,599 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	Welcome to mobileread .... Hope you find something suitable....A couple of links for readers are to be found in my signature line...