Thinking Of Trying Montessori Style

[countrymom]

Absolutely!

Here is their store:

http://stores.ebay.com/Allergy-Be-Gone/Melissa-and-Doug-/_i.html?_fsub=2736765018&_sid=30084638&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Keep in mind their prices are substantially lower than retail on M&D.


The best part is the wooden items especially will last for years and years, the quality is fantastic!

acually their prices on m and d stuff is really not cheap at all. I've purchased serval wooden (ok when I saw how much I own of m&d stuff I was so shocked) stuff for way cheaper, and I've even gotten stuff for bogo free.

[Willow]

acually their prices on m and d stuff is really not cheap at all. I've purchased serval wooden (ok when I saw how much I own of m&d stuff I was so shocked) stuff for way cheaper, and I've even gotten stuff for bogo free.

Where do you shop!

When looking locally the M&D toys are easily triple the cost as I've found with that seller, if not more. I am currently addicted to building my bins and toy stock , if there's somewhere else I could be getting items from and saving even more I'd love to know!

[daycare]

Where do you shop!

When looking locally the M&D toys are easily triple the cost as I've found with that seller, if not more. I am currently addicted to building my bins and toy stock , if there's somewhere else I could be getting items from and saving even more I'd love to know!

out tjmax and marshalls often have a lot of M&D. I see several of the items I have purchased from both of those places for about 1/2 the price the site you listed.

I would love to find out where others get their M&D toys too. personally they are one of my favorites

[momofsix]

I've gotten some also from TJ Maxx. Even Toys r Us has buy one get one half off or buy 2 get one free on them at times. Michael's has a limited selection of M&D and you can use your 40% or 50% off coupons on them. Amazon has sales on them at different times too, you just have to check. I've even gotten some at Meijer's (a grocery+ store) on clearance for 75% off after Christmas!

[Nickel]

I also compared prices, and some of those items are listed on Amazon for cheaper as well and I get free shipping with them. i also look around. Unfortunitely there isn't too many places locally here, I wonder if Ross has m&d items. There's no tjmax here and I haven't checked marshalls. I might have to go SHOPPING tomorrow

[Lianne]

I was anti Montessori for years. I thought it was fluff and that the traditional teaching styles were superior and important to maintain.

Funny what 10+ years will change, huh? Full on Montessori still isn't for me but I now see the benefit of that method. I do appreciate the simpler ways, simpler toys and encouraged independence. Over the last 2-3 years I've implemented some Montessori ways into my daycare and personal philosophy but a balance of Montessori & traditional teaching styles works best for me.

Oh, and for those in Ontario, Canada, Winners usually carries a good variety of M$D toys at decent prices.

[countrymom]

I've gotten some also from TJ Maxx. Even Toys r Us has buy one get one half off or buy 2 get one free on them at times. Michael's has a limited selection of M&D and you can use your 40% or 50% off coupons on them. Amazon has sales on them at different times too, you just have to check. I've even gotten some at Meijer's (a grocery+ store) on clearance for 75% off after Christmas!

i LOVE MEIJERS and I shop all the time in michigan. I love there 10 for 10 deals.

[countrymom]

also costco has them too or tru stores. I've even seen them in walmart too. Any in michigan (monroe area) they have a store called CRAFT 2000 and they have cheap stuff too, I love that store so much. And its dirt cheap for any kind of craft stuff you need.

[Crystal]

I watch sam's club after xmas for M&D toys. Last year, we got the wodd floor block sets that retail for $80 for under $10 a box - we bought 15 boxes and now have a FABULOUS block collection! We also got the set of wooden musical instruments, the wooden food sets that you can "cut", and puzzles for under $10 each. After Xmas is pretty much the only time of year that I buy big stuff like that because I get it at about 80% off retail, or more.

[Crystal]

I think montessori is great....but I also think other methods are great. I kinda have a mix of reggio, montessori and follow many theorists views of DAP.....Erikson, Vygotsky, Piaget, Maslow.....a little mix of everything that results in a method that is all my own. I think every provider needs to do what works for them and their children..... we are ALL different, and that's okay

[My3cents]

Is this a set up for a downfall towards the real world and how the "norm" operates? Always being able to do what you want when you want? Real life is not that way

It is really deeper than that. The whole approach teaches children to not only do things on their own but to be motivated to do them.I like this because so many kids have no motivation today. It also helps them be responsible for their choices and actually does the exact opposite of setting them up for failure and sets them up for success since they learn very early on that they ARE capable beings and are capable beings of doing things independently. It also teaches the children to try and not be afraid of trying things. Their own minds/brains do hold the key, they just need to be given the tools and the time to figure it out.

The teacher doesn't read books? How can a child know what a child does not know? I love exploration but there is more to learning then exploration.

It isn't that the teacher doesn't read books to the kids, it is that she doesn't teach from textbooks like seen in traditional classrooms. Books (children's) are a huge part of the Montessori classroom.

As far as learning to read/write, the Montessori approach to reading and literacy is much different than what you think about general about learning literacy skills.

Maria Montessori recognized that children as young as two had an interest in written letters. The "sandpaper letters" (letters cut out of sandpaper that can be traced) were developed to take advantage of this sensitive period. Montessori had an advantage when teaching in Italy; Italian is mostly phonetic. Once the basic phonetic sounds were learned, reading proceeded quite easily.

Montessori also observed that writing usually proceeded reading. When a child writes, all they need to do is turn sounds into letters. When a child reads, they need to pull apart the letters, turn them into phonetic sounds, and put them back together to make a word. It's a more complicated process. Children in Montessori classrooms often write stories with the movable alphabet long before they can read.

Hope that helps explain it a bit better.

Thank you for explaining better. It was helpful.

[My3cents]

I think montessori is great....but I also think other methods are great. I kinda have a mix of reggio, montessori and follow many theorists views of DAP.....Erikson, Vygotsky, Piaget, Maslow.....a little mix of everything that results in a method that is all my own. I think every provider needs to do what works for them and their children..... we are ALL different, and that's okay

me too!

I thought it was just me on the M&D collections. I was looking at the prices and thinking they were high. I do love the stuff but I never buy any of it unless it is on sale. You do find it all over the place now, not just in specialty stores.

[rhymia1]

I think montessori is great....but I also think other methods are great. I kinda have a mix of reggio, montessori and follow many theorists views of DAP.....Erikson, Vygotsky, Piaget, Maslow.....a little mix of everything that results in a method that is all my own. I think every provider needs to do what works for them and their children..... we are ALL different, and that's okay

I def have more of a reggio inspiried program. It works well with my group.

[Country Kids]

ROSS carries alot of M and D type toys around Christmas time to.

I love, love, love my wooden toys.

I do have one child though that has broken the same wooden toy 3 times. I'm not sure how they are doing it as I find it later after they have played with it. You can only wood glue something together so many times.

I'm very hesitatant to buy more though since I have a child that can break them!

[Sprouts]

I think the problem with montessorri is that its all about problem sloving. Look at all the pictures, go see the places. They stress over and over that they want kids to figure things out. Which is great and I do that here, but I also offer them other things. I also find that all they do is teach knowledgable stuff, like people around the world, they know everything about it.
I like to take components from montessori and mix it with my own stuff, its like a balance. Also, right now, I have all younger children, montessori would not work for them, heck if we can get thru the day with just not fighting over a toy I'm doing well for the day.

When you say you have younger children, what age is that?

Montessori is for all ages, I was able to get trained in infant and toddler (still working on my certification ) but there is so many things to learn about infants and toddlers and so many things that can be done to help them become more independent (feeding,dressing, toileting, etc, communicate, concentrate, hand eye coordination...) there are so many things in our environment that many providers don't realize affect their young ones.

There's a lot of videos on YouTube , here's one

http://m.youtube.com/?reload=7&rdm=mb32413tv#/watch?v=y0-z7-8loGc