Montessori supplies - what stores?

[LearningAsWeGo]

Where do you purchase Montessori supplies? I'm going to make an IKEA run to get small rugs, child sized kitchen items, etc, but for things like child size tool set, numerical rods, etc, I'd like to find a quality and competitively priced option.

I'd love to know if any brick and mortar stores carry them.

I'm just starting out, so thought I'd check here before spending too much time looking online :)

Thanks!

[dhano923]

When DS went to Montessori, we didn't have to provide anything other than a nap blanket, and lunch. Does your school require you to supply your own teaching tools? If so, ask the teacher where they can be purchased.

[LearningAsWeGo]

This is for at home - he isn't at a Montessori school. He's home full-time.

[essnce629]

This site looks great for Montessori items:

http://www.kidadvance.com/

[ThreeofUs]

Lots of places have child-sized items; I've always found the Montessori catalogs to be REALLY overpriced. Take a look at http://www.forsmallhands.com/store/

Try Target, WF (cleaning section), Walmart, Meijer, even Learning Resources or other teacher store will have lower prices than the specialized Montessori catalog.

[AngelaS]

Seems like i read a blog or two about making your own Montessori supplies. You might do some online searching for homemade supplies because I know anything Montessori is rather spendy. :)

[smilequeen]

Try the Montessori board at mothering.com, they have some good resources there for people who homeschool Montessori. My boys are in Montessori school and I've bought from the For Small Hands store, but not much.

[brittone2]

nak-
diy stuff:
http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/
http://montessorimom.com/montessori-free-printouts-downloads/

Printables, activity ideas (often using household objects), themes:
http://countingcoconuts.blogspot.com/

http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/search/label/montessori

http://simplymontessori.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

No experience w/ this but looks interesting (mentioned on the Chasing Cheerios blog)
http://www.montessoriathomebook.com/Welcome.html

Flickr set w/ handmade materials:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/323097@N25/
Forsmallhands is great

A good friend frequently orders from this site:
http://montessori-n-such.com/

Etsy has some people who sell Montessori type activities

eta: if you look through the catalogs like forsmallhands, you will likely figure out that you can find many items at B&M stores for less money. Once you look at what they carry and the types of activities you can do, you can often replicate the activity using materials from a B&M store. I think Ikea carries trays (if you need any). Thrift stores often have little things that work for Montessori activities-small baskets, trays, tongs, spoons, scoops, creamer pitchers for pouring, ladles, ice cube trays, eggbeaters, things to work on snapping and buttoning (purses, wallets, etc.). In my last hometown, we had a great little independent hardware store that carried child-sized garden tools, rakes, shovels, washboards, clothes pins, etc. Yard sales are another source. I've picked up things like used board games (Scrabble for example-use the letter tiles as a manipulative. DD does this with cards I print out for her. We found a boggle Jr. game used at some point and that's great too-she uses the 3 and 4 letter word cards and then uses the alphabet dice or a set of alphabet magnets to spell out the words on the cards. Sometimes I let her type them on the computer if DS1 is doing a computer activity. Depending on how much of a rush you are in, you can build up your stash of manipulatives, baskets, trays, etc. over time. Dollar stores often have things you can use for fine motor activities too. We have some of these shower doodads to use with tweezers, tongs, droppers, etc.: http://kathysmontessorilife.blogspot.com/2010/11/marvelous-marbles.html (scroll down to the purple apple thingie-2nd picture down).