| Author | |
Jordan
Forum Pro
Joined: Nov 01 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 137
|
| Posted: June 24 2007 at 8:12am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I would love to be able to buy all the materials for 3-6 right now and have them just there and waiting for me when I decide to use them. However, that's not going to happen so I'm trying to figure out a good plan for acquiring the materials.
What do you think is most important to start with? What would give the most bang for my buck in the beginning? I'm planning to buy a little bit every month as the money becomes available. I figure this will also keep me from overwhelming myself (and my kids) and from trying to squeeze presentations too close together in my own rush to have it all out there.
Here's what I'm thinking. The grace and courtesy lessons and care of the environment aren't really something I have to buy so we can begin with that right away. Many of the practical life activities can be put together without too great expense, though I am thinking those trays could add up in price. I think the greater expense is going to come from the other areas. I'm thinking of collecting sensorial materials first, in the order they will be presented, since they are a precursor for math. After we have a good start in the sensorial area, maybe then I'll bring in some math materials. Math is the area I'm most unsure of. There is SO MUCH and I don't know how much I should have available for my daughter. I don't want to hold her back because I don't have the materials on hand to satisfy her desire to move forward with new things.
For language, I don't think I'm going to go full Montessori here so there are really only a few materials I plan to buy for this area.
I think the botany cabinet and geography items are dreamy but I think the other areas might need to come first.
My dd 4 spent the last year in a Montessori preschool for 2 days/week so she already is familiar with much of this stuff but I don't think I should just throw it all out there for her without presenting it myself first. I guess I'll just need to do my presentations close together until we catch up where she left off in school.
What do you guys think? How have you prioritized your spending? If you're starting with children who've already mastered certain concepts (such as counting to 10, identifying letters and sounds, understanding zero, one-to-one correspondence etc.) do you give them those presentations anyway or do you just skip them? Personally, for a child as young as mine 4 1/2, I wouldn't think so. I think she'll need to move on sooner but I still see merit in doing all the presentations in order.
Thanks for any input. I try talking to dh about this and his eyes start glazing over. 
__________________
Jordan
Cheerios & Fingerpaints
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
AndreaG
Forum Pro
Joined: March 25 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 326
|
| Posted: June 24 2007 at 9:26am | IP Logged
|
|
|
My montessori ponderings have the same eye-glazing effect on dh! I think your plan sounds really good. I think the sensorial are hardest to make and probably what your kids will need the soonest, after practical life anyway, so they would be a good thing to buy. My first purchases were the brown stair, pink tower, and knobbed cylinders. When I started montessori I gave all the presentations- my son just did the ones he knew very quickly and never went back to them. I was glad I had younger kids to get more use out of those materials!
This forum is just wonderful isn't it?
__________________
Andrea
GrayFamilyCircus
Read Through the Catechism in a Year- For Moms!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SeaStar
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 16 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 9068
|
| Posted: June 24 2007 at 9:48am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I am in the same boat. I just purchased the knobbed cylinders, pink tower, brown stairs, plus a spindle box , numbers with counters and the table top rods. About a month ago I purchased a set of clearance maps from Alison's.
I waffled on the botany cabinet and the metal insets, but then I bought them because they were on sale, and I have noticed that shipping on these items is very expensive. To make one big sale purchase (a lot of the stuff was on sale) and pay one shipping fee helped save me money.
I plan to watch for future sales and then make another big purchase of things that I know we'll need. I would like to just pick up things here and there as needed, but it's that shipping charge that gets me. Alison's shipping starts around $35, even if you are buying just one thing, and goes up from there. I would love to find a free shipping deal some day.
My ds is 4.5 yrs, but I plan to start at the beginning with him. DD will be three in August, so she will be perfect to jump right in with us.
It's all a work in progress. I know that I won't be ordering much in August because the owner of MC told me lots of people order stuff then and shipping is slow and backorders are common.
Now that I have several materials, too, to get me started, I feel like I can spend some time making things, too. HTH
PS. My AF brother and family spent several years in Germany, and I have fond memories of visiting them there. I can't say I want to drive on those streets again, though!
__________________
Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Meredith
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 08 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2355
|
| Posted: June 24 2007 at 11:48am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jordan wrote:
What do you guys think? How have you prioritized your spending? If you're starting with children who've already mastered certain concepts (such as counting to 10, identifying letters and sounds, understanding zero, one-to-one correspondence etc.) do you give them those presentations anyway or do you just skip them? Personally, for a child as young as mine 4 1/2, I wouldn't think so. I think she'll need to move on sooner but I still see merit in doing all the presentations in order.
Thanks for any input. I try talking to dh about this and his eyes start glazing over. |
|
|
Jordan, it sounds to me like you've really got a nice plan. My ds 5 is fairly advanced in Math already, but I DO plan to start with the very first presentations, not only for my practice, but for him to see the progression in his understanding. He will also start at the beginning with Sensorial and I will continue our language and his reading development with some Montessori materials, but not all (at least not yet  ) We will be doing all of the beginning Geography presentations and Botany/Classification as well. I'm still working through how to present History and The Great Lessons as I believe those come later. And then there's working my older two into the equation with some Montessori, but mostly Charlotte Mason/Real Learning The two year old will be doing mostly Practical Life and Sensorial to begin 
I do think it's best to pace yourself as we've discussed before especially considering the young age of your little sweeties!
It's such a help for all of us to share and be part of the learning curve, I'm so glad you asked!!
Blessings!
__________________
Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
Sweetness and Light
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Jordan
Forum Pro
Joined: Nov 01 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 137
|
| Posted: June 24 2007 at 4:28pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks, you guys. I appreciate the reassurance.
AndreaG wrote:
This forum is just wonderful isn't it? |
|
|
Definitely.
SeaStar wrote:
| PS. My AF brother and family spent several years in Germany, and I have fond memories of visiting them there. I can't say I want to drive on those streets again, though! |
|
|
Yes, they can be so scary. There are blind corners everywhere and people just speed through!
__________________
Jordan
Cheerios & Fingerpaints
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Erin
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 23 2005
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5814
|
| Posted: June 25 2007 at 12:02am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jordan
Just to throw another idea in the arena try ebay. I have been wandering around in the 'wooden puzzles' area or try 'educational' and if have been finding lots of Montessori type and even authentic products. This is looking like the more affordable way for me to go. I perused the Montessori sites and products, then I know what I am looking for.
As for wooden trays try your op shops and garage sales. I'm also looking at what can I make and then what would be used the most in my house.
__________________
Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
earthmaven
Forum Pro
Joined: June 19 2007
Location: Illinois
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 105
|
| Posted: June 25 2007 at 7:20am | IP Logged
|
|
|
For those of you with access to an IKEA store, we got wonderful work mats there in the rug department for $4.99--all ivory cotton without a fringe, matching placemats for table work, some great, really inexpensive wooden trays with handles, as well as simple plastic trays that would be great for plant care, dropper work, etc.
We picked up a bookcase that coordinates surprisingly well with our living room and it's doing a lovely job of housing our math materials. And we scored a wonderful child's picnic table for $29--great for outside nature activities and messier outdoor projects. The bonus there: our girls LOVED working with their tools to help their dad assemble things. What a feeling of accomplishment...and they really want to take care of those pieces because they worked so hard to make them!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SeaStar
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 16 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 9068
|
| Posted: June 25 2007 at 7:20am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks for that tip on the wording, Erin. I'll give it a try!
__________________
Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
earthmaven
Forum Pro
Joined: June 19 2007
Location: Illinois
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 105
|
| Posted: June 25 2007 at 7:35am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh, and one other helpful hint while it's in my head: since so much of the Montessori material is wooden, we found it worked really well to put those tiny circular felt stickers on the bottom of each piece to prevent scrape marks on shelves! Both girls loved the precision of getting those neatly in each corner.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: June 25 2007 at 8:26am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jordan,
Your plan sounds great!
Practical life can be put together for next to nothing! It pays to find a thrift store that has a number of houseware type items - I'm not sure why, but some seem to attract mostly clothes, while others have a great collection of housewares and baskets! Almost ALL of my practical life items including trays have come from the thrift store. There are almost always options for trays there too, in silver, brass and wicker.
Your plan for putting together some sensorial items sounds good too. If you're still unsure about math, maybe just get a couple of things that make sense - I really like using the hundred number board (I made my own) and some one inch square tiles to start becoming familiar with numbers and their relationsip to one another. You know, things like cover up the numbers 1 - 10. Cover up the numbers before and after 2. The possiblities with this are practically endless, and we use ours a lot. I like the numbers and counters idea, and you could do this with a number of things you probably have around the home already. I LOVE the wooden number cards that the Montessori stores sell - I plan to use them with all the kids for many activities - building numbers, number recognition, place value i.d., etc. I just love having the set of wooden tiles with the numbers printed on them. For your littles, you could start with 1 - 10, and just some identification, then the wooden cards could follow them through elementary in a number of activities. If you have counters (like the small bears, or some skittles, or beans) you could even start with some very simple addition too using the wooden number cards, set out the 1 card with 1 bean next to it, then set out the 2 card with 2 beans next to it. You could print a + sign on a card - you get the idea.
I really, really love the moveable alphabet - whether you make or buy (I do love my wooden set) - this one item seems indespensable! Even if you don't do much else language-wise with Montessori!
HTH.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: A Plan for Acquiring Materials
