Free and Discounted Montessori Materials

How to Save Money on Teaching Supplies

Oct 8, 2009 Jocelyn Scotty

Save money and find free Montessori materials and teaching supplies by shopping smart online and supporting a local teacher store.

It can cost upwards of $10,000 to fully furnish a Montessori classroom with high quality materials and furniture. The high costs associated with specialty Montessori materials lead many teachers, homeschooling parents and school administrators to look for alternative ways to supplement a Montessori classroom with quality enrichment materials. It is easy to obtain quality classroom supplies in a simple and affordable way.

Handmade Montessori Materials from PDF Files

It is simple to download free and reduced-price PDF files from Montessori material websites such as Montessori Print Shop. A PDF (Portable Document Format) is an electronic file format that preserves page layout information; fonts, graphics, colors and allows a user working on either a Mac or PC to view and print the document exactly as it was created.

Hundreds of full color professional quality files to make language sequencing and categorizing cards, science and geography charts, math labels and specialty papers are available at a fraction of the cost of preprinted sets. PDF material files that are downloaded to a personal computer are less expensive to purchase and allow for unlimited reprinting. One PDF file purchase can be printed out to make a set for every classroom in a school. Some sites also offer unadvertised sales and free PDF file downloads each month.

Sign up for Montessori Manufacturer Email Newsletters

Montessori materials are not only expensive; they are uniform in size, color and shape from all Montessori manufacturers. Differences in quality, construction, and price between sellers lead to stiff competition for sales. Sign up for email newsletters with each Montessori manufacturer to receive coupons, inside sale information, and special deals and offers. At certain times of the year, manufacturers offer extreme discounts on closeout items to make room in their warehouse for new products, and notify email customers first to shop from the best selection.

Shop Local Teacher Stores

Most local teacher stores do not carry traditional Montessori materials for a variety of reasons, the biggest of which is that most Montessori manufacturers do not use a retail distribution system. However, that does not mean that good deals on quality enrichment materials cannot be found at a retail location. Shop at the local teacher store for basic supplies and specialty items like tempera paints, drawing paper, artist clay, gallons of glue, class sets of markers, artist quality colored pencils, wooden puzzles, stringing beads, children’s recorded music and instruments, hands-on wooden manipulatives and educational cooperative board games. Not only will this support an independently owned local business, it will save money on shipping charges and keep quality stores in the community.

Many teacher stores offer frequent buyer discount programs, acknowledge tax exemption status for not-for-profit organizations and offer seasonal freebies, promotions and sales to save even more money. Additionally, when school auction and fundraising time comes around, the locally owned businesses in the community will be more likely to show support back to the school in the form of high quality educational donations.

Become a Member of a File Sharing Website

Montessori Materials is a website that acts as a resource for its’ members to share Montessori electronic files with each other for free. While the quality is not as commercial as PDF files from Montessori Print Shop, the material files are mostly all free and clearly made with love by teachers and parents. Members are allowed to share original work files only and agree to copyright law, which prohibits the resale of any downloaded files. The Montessori Materials member based website also has open forums to discuss topics of interest, ask questions and request materials from other members.

Save money by making homemade Montessori materials from affordable PDF files, signing up to receive early email notifications of manufacturer sales, shopping local teacher stores and becoming a member of a file sharing website. These strategies prove that Montessori materials, teaching supplies and classroom resources can be affordable.

The copyright of the article Free and Discounted Montessori Materials in Teacher Tips/Training is owned by Jocelyn Scotty. Permission to republish Free and Discounted Montessori Materials in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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