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bfarmmom
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 1:41pm | IP Logged
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This may be the wrong forum for this, sorry if it needs to be moved 
I am looking into some montessori materials. I was wondering what you all think of the quality of kid advance compared to the others like Alison or Montessori Outlet. Their prices are not to bad so I was wondering what the quality was like. Does anyone have their gold beads? I was wondering if they were plastic and unfortunately under the description it does not say.
If you were going to outfit your classroom, where would you order from?
TIA for the input!
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Kirsten
ds13,dd12,dd10,ds7,dd6, dd 4, ds 2
Sonlight Garden
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 2:33pm | IP Logged
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Hi Kirsten,
I ordered the lion's share of my montessori materials from Kid Advance.
I'm getting my crew together to head out the door for Mass right now, but later tonight after the dinner rush, I'll get back on and give you the low down for Kid Advance.
In a nutshell though, quality is good, beads are plastic.
Be back in a little while.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 9:27pm | IP Logged
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Ok Kirsten - I've got a minute so I thought I'd respond to your questions.
First, general quality of Kid Advance?? Well, I thought it was pretty good. I have a number of things from them, and I've been pleased so far. Paint quality is good, wood quality is nice, and all of my materials seem to be holding up well.
Now, in terms of comparing materials from Kid Advance to Alison's or Montessori Outlet I think the quality and customer service from the latter two is better. I did get good customer service from Kid Advance so I have nothing to complain about there. My preference is Montessori Outlet. I find their materials to be better (nicer looking) in terms of quality. Their golden beads are gorgeous! They are almost always having a good sale, and I think their prices are pretty competitive. I like Alison's materials as well, great cust.svc. They do have an upper quality line of materials (which I can't afford.) Their quality seems pretty on par with other affordable sources. There is a coupon code you can use at Alison's (code is ALISONS) for 5% off your purchase. It helps, especially if you're making a big purchase!
Hmmm...where would I purchase to outfit the classroom? I'm hoping a few others will jump in here to offer their opinions. I ordered from all 3 of the companies you mentioned, with the bulk of it coming from Kid Advance. I have not been disappointed. The quality seems pretty comparable across the board in my opinion (with the exception of things maybe being a little nicer from Mont.Outlet) so my advice would be to go with the vendor that has most of the materials you are looking for with the best price. I think you'll be pleased wherever you shop from.
I will throw one other thing out. I have been concerned about the made in china factor, and it sort of blew up after I made most of my purchases. I know Kid Advance is made in China - though I questioned them and they communicated that they monitored their factories closely, and the paint was lead free and most likely from France not China. I know that Alison's is no longer manufacturing in China - I think they're m'fing in Taiwan. But, you could call and check. I think I remember that Mont. Outlet was not made in China, but you'd have to call to find out for sure - my brain is mush right now!  Just mentioning this in case it is important to you so you could call each of the vendors you are considering to ask about their made in China policy.
A link to Kid Advance for those that might be lurking and wondering who they are. I'll throw out Alison's and Montessori Outlet as well. One more vendor to check out with prices and quality comparable to Kid Advance is Montessori Concepts.
Hope this helps some Kirsten. Have fun shopping! Let me know if you have any questions about specific materials you are considering ordering - if I don't have it, somebody here does! 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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bfarmmom
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 10:49pm | IP Logged
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Oh Jennifer, Thank you so much! You have given me much to think about and have been very helpful. The MIC thing is a big factor. I will probably call each vendor and find out for sure. I am trying to take my time and decide what I really want and need before I start placing orders. And of course I don't want the materials to fall apart. Which seems to happen quite easily in our house I always say we should be a tester family for products. If it holds up in our house it will hold up anywhere  !
And thank you for the book recommendations I was able to get all three and they have been a huge help in understanding this approach. It is all beginning to make sense now !
And also thank you for adding the links!
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Peace,
Kirsten
ds13,dd12,dd10,ds7,dd6, dd 4, ds 2
Sonlight Garden
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 11:07pm | IP Logged
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Kirsten:
We have some things from Alison's and from Kid Advance. I have been happy with both. Kid Advance had great cust. service when I had a couple problems....they resolved very quickly. I have some paint coming off of our knobless cylinders....that's the only thing I've noticed that haven't held up that great.
I just did a "Kid Advance" search in Early Learning forum.
Here are some threads I singled out, if you haven't seen these already, there are some discussions about the diff't places that Jennifer mentioned above, in these threads.....
Are you happy with what you've bought?
Boxes are arriving
Lead Paint
Great News about Kid Advance
Montessori Materials
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Suzanne in ID
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 11:41pm | IP Logged
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I don't have anything from Kid Advance, but since Alison's and Montessori Outlet were mentioned, I'll pipe in. Most of my stuff has come from these two vendors and they have both been great about customer service and quality. I do think the quality of the MO stuff has been the best. Alison's stuff is nice, but MO is really, really nice, kwim? The golden beads and the colored beads are just gorgeous, and the knobbed cylinders are beautiful to look at and touch.
They are made in China, btw. Here is their safety policy from their website:
"Safety
All Montessori Outlet premium materials are tested by the Rheinland Laboratory in Germany, and have passed all tests based upon European Union and United States Toy Safety Standards.
Our factory may be the only one in the industry implementing Water Based Finishing technology. Water Based Finishing is currently the most advanced painting technology which is strongly promoted by the European Union because it is considered to be Heavy Metal chemical free (lead free, non-toxic) and environmentally friendly."
The website also says that their water-based finishes are imported from Canada, which makes me feel good about the safety and quality.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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bfarmmom
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| Posted: March 25 2008 at 10:53pm | IP Logged
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Suzanne, Thank you for all of those threads, I hadn't read those yet. Very informative.
Theresa said- (Sorry, I can't figure out the quote thing)
Our factory may be the only one in the industry implementing Water Based Finishing technology. Water Based Finishing is currently the most advanced painting technology which is strongly promoted by the European Union because it is considered to be Heavy Metal chemical free (lead free, non-toxic) and environmentally friendly."
The website also says that their water-based finishes are imported from Canada, which makes me feel good about the safety and quality."
This is great Theresa. I am definately going to get my beads from them. I do have a decanomial set of backorder from them for a couple of weeks now. I am anxious to see them.
Now just to figure out what I need. I am going to start making a list because it is a tad bit overwhelming.
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Kirsten
ds13,dd12,dd10,ds7,dd6, dd 4, ds 2
Sonlight Garden
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marianne
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| Posted: March 26 2008 at 11:36am | IP Logged
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I have had things from both Alison's and Montessori Outlet fall apart completely, so I'm not thrilled with either of those companies right now. My knobbed cylinders from MO have had multiple knobs fall out. Same with knobs on other items from Alison's. I've had a lot of materials hold up and be nice, too, though. We love our continent maps from Alisons. Montessori Outlet has nicer sandpaper letters.
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RA's Mom
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 5:42am | IP Logged
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Thanks to everyone who contributed to this post. It was my introduction the whole forum. I was googling for reviews of Kid Advance and found a place that covered Montessori homeschool and the Domestic Church. Wow.
Based on what I saw here I decided to give Kid Advance a try but I didn't order all the sensory materials on my list, just enough to qualify for the 10% discount.
The pink tower has two flawed cubes. One with a dented corner and a chipped unit cube, but there was also an extra unit cube and I'm rather pleased with this foresight. The brown stair is in good shape but the interval on one of the steps isn't exact. This also included an extra unit step which will be useful for extensions.
I may try to get the flawed cubes replaced depending on if I have time to return them from overseas. Right now I'm neither so pleased that I'll definitely use Kid Advance for my next order or so appalled that I'll never decide their prices are worth it. Much depends on the state of the knobbed cylinders which were back-ordered.
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aneliese
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I ordered the bulk of our items from Tree City Kids before they closed their online store. Their items are actually imprinted with the Montessori Outlet Logo on them so they were coming from the same source.
There were definitely a few items that came damaged within the packaging (which is extensive) but most things arrived well and are okay for our homeschool use. I have heard horror stories from the Montessori yahoo groups about how long it's taken to get replies from them though.
I have gotten items from Montessori Concepts as well and a few pieces were not perfect (warped map pieces) and when I notified them of the problem they sent me replacement pieces immediately.
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ALmom
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 8:31pm | IP Logged
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I had very bad experience with both Montessori Outlet and Allisons and basically don't plan to order from either. I actually placed a very small order with Nienhaus after my negative experience with the others - loved the service and the quality, just not the price. I cannot afford Montessori materials, generally, so we have adjusted the way we are schooling. I do still occassionally really want something very unique and will order from Nienhaus, but I have to think long and hard and save up. Sometimes, no matter how much I would like it, it is just waaay too high, so we do without. I just don't think it is worth that kind of money most of the time. Even the lower priced suppliers were really expensive in my mind when you consider all the difficulties we had (I don't expect the same quality of paint and such, but I do expect them to function properly, not be obviously warped, measure in a precise enough way that the child is not frustrated because you are never quite sure of the relationship you are trying to see) - and without the quality or trust, I just cannot order from them. I also cannot afford to purchase things not knowing if they will stand behind their products or if it will cost me so much to ship it back that it just isn't worth it. I've been very disappointed. If you want to know more, PM me.
Basically, I don't care what they tell you about the uniqueness of their factory in China, you just are not going to get consistent quality and there is no way anyone can really be sure about the materials used - even when they are supposedly using a special process.
Allisons will accept returns on damaged items but you pay the shipping back so if it is a heavy item, basically it isn't covered. Perhaps my experience is atypical and from all I have heard, it is - but neither place has my trust anymore.
As far as customer service, the only thing I can think of is that most of these lower priced places make their money through volume and they are more likely to work with a large customer than a small one - so place regular, large orders if you can afford it with whomever you do finally decide to go with and then stick with them unless they do you wrong. Oh and it may also depend on how slow or fast business is at the time. I think I ordered at the tail end of the Montessori rush when it was first being talked about here - so maybe we ordered when all these places were being overwhelmed by the quantity of orders. What one place (not any of the above) told a friend of mine when she ordered was not the same as what they told me when I went to order from them about a month later. Ask a lot of questions via e-mail and save it!
Personally, if I buy anything, I'm going with Nienhaus - which means it is going to have to be something absolutely critical that I can get on sale or through some sort of special deal. They were good to me even when I had a puny order - spending hours on the phone helping me get it all at the best possible price by doing their stack to the max promotions. Most everything else I want to do in the Montessori style, we're going to either have to make it ourselves, or find a good enough substitute in what we have (MUS blocks are serving just fine for much of the Montessori math supplies and a mom showed me how she made arrows and such to match the colors of the MUS blocks. I know this is plastic, not true Montessori and that there are things lost in doing this - but it is not worth $1000 of dollars just to have the exact copy, imo. Of course I've never been a Montessori purist so maybe it is worthwhile for others. I have found both In-print and Montessori Lori with really good alternative to high priced Montessori 3 part cards and such.
Janet
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Angel
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| Posted: April 24 2009 at 6:37am | IP Logged
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I'll just throw in my experience with Montessori Outlet and Alison's... Our Montessori Outlet stuff has been of better quality. The beads are far nicer (the gold beads are really gold) and the puzzle knobs don't come off. All the knobs on all the map pieces I got from Alison's are loose, and Andy had to put the geometry cabinet back together when we got it. The Imbucare boxes I ordered on sale from Alison's had paint chipping, which made them unusable - especially for a baby.
Unfortunately, BEST quality stuff -- as Janet says -- is still Neinhuis, which is prohibitively expensive. (I have some of their bead frame paper, but that's about it.) I've been disappointed in that some of the Montessori material I've bought seems to be put together less sturdily and certainly the paint has left something to be desired... than a typical Melissa and Doug wooden puzzle. This has left me scratching my head a few times. How come Melissa and Doug can turn out a quality product, no paint chipping, etc., and a Montessori product that costs more looks a lot cheaper? I suppose it's volume, but it does become a little annoying.
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: April 24 2009 at 11:45am | IP Logged
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I guess I have been lucky.
I have a lot of materials from Montessori Outlet and Alison's and they have all been high quality. Never so much as a loose knob or chipped paint in the whole lot.
I think the MO materials are a little better quality, the bead materials (golden and colored)especially are very beautiful and sturdy, and the knobbed cylinders are just gorgeous. The majority of my MO materials are labeled with the brand "mindspace" and those have all been top-notch. But the Alison's materials are fine, too.I have most everything I need now, but I continue to order an item or two here and there from them.
Customer service is better at Alison's. MO frequently has stuff on back order and you wont know it unless YOU call and ask. And it can take months to get things from them. Alison's lets you know up front if they are out of something and will call YOU if there are any problems.
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Theresa
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montessori_lori
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I do know that Alison's Montessori used to have lower-quality materials, and they got tired of hearing about it from customers, so they switched to a higher quality. I think that's why people have had different experiences with them - it depends on when you ordered.
Now, their "regular" stuff is very good quality, and they also offer a higher quality for higher prices (you can find those in the category called "Premium Quality" at their store).
Anyway, in the interest of full disclosure, I am friends with them, but I am also a customer too. When I ordered from them two years ago, I was not pleased with the quality but more recent items have been very nice.
I ordered something from MO once that took a month to arrive, so I wasn't very happy about that. But it was very nice quality (it was the red rods). If you're looking to save money and you realize that you can't get Nienhuis quality at discount prices, I think either company is good to buy from.
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RA's Mom
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 6:31pm | IP Logged
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An update on my Kid Advance order. The knobbed cylinder blocks arrived yesterday in good shape. We opened them right away and my 21-month old daughter was very interested, plus her dad got to watch her initial reaction which was fun for everyone.
I emailed about the dented pink cube and haven't gotten a reply from customer service, but FedEx has another package from them. So maybe they sent the requested replacement without telling me??? Possibly a problem with dual email addresses. Anyway, I'll post again if they do provide a replacement.
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RA's Mom
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 11:02pm | IP Logged
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Ok, I found the email. Kid Advance did agree to replace a pink cube which arrived damaged. They didn't request that I ship the flawed one back, so I'm satisfied with them.
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Elizabeth
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Just wanted to chime in with a quick tidbit I found as I've been researching this topic this week: I was a little worried about quality at Montessori Outlet until I saw that Bert Neinhuis is their director. Neinhuis is synonymous with genuine Montessori quality. Link to Bert Neinhuis
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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bfarmmom
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| Posted: April 30 2009 at 9:04am | IP Logged
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Just an FYI. If you are going to order from MO be patient. After 2 and a half to three months of waiting for the majority of the items I ordered I ended up cancelling my order. They refunded my money without any problem though.
I was pleased with the quality of the items that I did receive though.
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Peace,
Kirsten
ds13,dd12,dd10,ds7,dd6, dd 4, ds 2
Sonlight Garden
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: April 30 2009 at 9:58am | IP Logged
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bfarmmom wrote:
| After 2 and a half to three months of waiting for the majority of the items I ordered I ended up cancelling my order. |
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That might make my decision much easier. Does anyone have Kid Advance continent maps? Quality?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: April 30 2009 at 10:03am | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
| That might make my decision much easier. Does anyone have Kid Advance continent maps? Quality? |
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Are you talking about the puzzle maps?
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Suzanne in ID
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: montessori material quality
