Lilmisssunshine, thanks for posting that. It is helpful. Here are a couple of sites that may be helpful
http://www.montessori-home-schooling.com/montessori-homeschool-program/materials.aspxhttp://vibrantwanderings.com/2012/11/setting-up-a-montessori-classroom-the-essential-materials.htmlMana, I agree 100% on the need to spend 1,000s of $ on montessori materials to learn basic stuff. I am thinking of just following the basic principles and creating a beautiful child sized room with natural materials and toys with maybe some carefully selected montessori materials. I want my child to continue to learn by just asking questions and being inquisitive. I did not sit her down to teach her math operations, adding negative number, or the concept of infinity. She just figured it out by thinking about it and asking questions when something didn't make sense. So I believe
she needs my time and attention more than $$$ materials.
Yes.
Do try out Peggy Kaye's two books, if you haven't looked at those. They mostly use free/super-cheap materials (if at all) or available surroundings, and my DD
loved everything that we ever used out of those. She actually used to ASK to do some of those games, which-- if you knew my DD-- is astonishing, given how much she LOATHES drill-and-kill. They were just fun.
As for beads, etc... check out your local craft store and look into the Perler jumbo beads, or the Pony beads-- which come in a variety of sizes. My mom (and most teachers like her) also used pinto beans glued to popsicle sticks back in the day to teach numeracy. WAY cheaper than Cuisinaire rods. LOL.
