Color printer necessary for elementary or middle school? (children, college, kids)

[twoincomes]

We do not own a color printer. Toner for laser is way cheaper than ink for inkjet, plus they are faster and more reliable. So we have owned only b&w laser printers since college.


My question is, would a b&w printer be sufficient for your child's needs in school? Were there situations that you needed to print in color? How often did you have this need, and can you provide examples of when color was needed?

[bus man]

My kids are in 5th and 3rd grade. Off-hand I can't recall any project that needed to be printed in color, though it's certainly possible that I'm forgetting something.

You could always go to Fed Ex or Kinko's or UPS or the equivalent and print out something, if there happened to be a particular assignment that needed to be done in color.

[pkbab5]

We use our color printer a decent amount. My kids have had projects which include printing out pictures from their childhood, pasting them onto the project, and writing about them, for example. I have gone on the internet to find supplementary worksheets with topics they are struggling on, and printed them out (color is helpful when trying to teach addition using pictures). We also use the color printer to make birthday invitations to hand out to classmates. The school's yearly schedule that I print out and hang on the wall has vacation days and late start days color coded.


However, all this could have easily been done by loading the item onto a memory stick and driving to Kinko's or Office Depot. So there is that option as well.


And color laser printers aren't all that expensive anymore. I recently got a really nice one for $300 that works great.

[flyonpa]

For 99% yes a B/W laser printer works.

For that 1% I would have him Email it to me, and I would print it at work, or Send/Print at the Staples.

Work was closer then Staples, and since most of the time he was doing the final touches until last minute, Staples was closed by then, I would Print it, Either go to work (5 miles 24x7 Building), or swing by in the morning, grab it and drive him to school.

[randomparent]

I can't recall any assignment that absolutely required a color printer, and if one of my children had wanted to use one, we would have run up to the library where there are several available for public use. Otherwise, we'd have printed in b&w at home and had our kids break out the colored pencils.

[Riley09swb]

My son's in 3rd and so far his projects haven't been required to be in color. I do have a color inkjet printer.

[BirdieBelle]

We have a color printer/scanner. It was about $300.

When you have more than one child, it certainly comes in handy when a kid inevitably remembers too late that something is due tomorrow that HAS to be printed, and the library is closed and Kinko's is 20 miles away.

In the upper elementary years, they would need to print something a couple times a year. In middle it was needed more often.

[maciesmom]

Printers are not expensive, it's the ink/toner.

Least expensive option is laser B/W printer. Color toner is pricey. Very seldom, if ever, will this be needed. I'm with posters who say go to library or Kinko's if needed.

Child "remembers too late" then bring out the colored pencils/crayons. They may not make that mistake again.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

My kids are in middle and high school. We have not had any assignments that required a color printer.

[strawflower]

Elementary was a few times a year, if that. Middle and high school were more often. Trifolds, posters, various other projects. Our printer was only ~$200, toner runs about $120. I'd
say we go through one or two per year.

I don't want to run to Kinko's or the public library every time my kid needs something printed in color, especially not at 10PM when they're putting the final touches on the project...