Review of May's Montessori By Mom Box

My Montessori By Mom box arrived!!  Actually, it's my son's, and it was a couple weeks ago, but hey - it's pretty exciting for this mom over here, too!  And even now, after having used it several weeks, it's still like we are opening it up for the first time!

So, the first thing I did when it came in the mail was to tell my son that HE got a package.  OK, let me back up.  My husband is a professional online shopper.  Ok, maybe not professional, but he should be, or at least should get a commission, because it seems that not a day goes by that we don't get one or more packages.  Amazingly, they usually don't cost us money because he is always selling something on eBay and making money off of everything he purchases.  He's crazy talented.  But I'm straying from the point.  The point is, it's pretty darn amazing if anyone BESIDES my husband gets a package around here.  Let alone my little guy.  He was dumbfounded, literally, and was SO excited to see what he got!

Of course my little gal had to come over and see what was going on.  Nothing get's past her, and in 1/100 of a second she was next to her brother, opening the box.  

I had seen pictures of the contents on their website and even posted a picture in my Montessori By Mom post a few weeks back, but I was literally shocked by the amount of materials in the box, and the quality.  Honestly, I don't think the picture on their website does it justice, so I took my own and placed every material by itself (except the number cards - I ran out of room!) so that you could get a better idea of all that is included in the box:

Everything on this table (except the tablecloth) came in the Montessori By Mom box for May: Sandpaper numbers 0-9, white tray, bag of starfish counters, number cards 0-9, blue job rug, 8 beautiful REAL seashells, 2 seashell bowls, 1 beautiful and unique spoon, bag of (small) real seashells.

Even my sceptic husband was impressed with the quality of the items in the box.  Check out these pictures showing the detail:

For those of you that might think a preschooler cannot appreciate the delicacies or uniqueness of something, my son - without my urging - spontaneously stopped the job to admire the tiny shells and said in a baby voice (which totally made me crack up!): "Awww, mommy - look at this little baby shell!"

A real, ornate spoon for using in the transfer job. 

This is so unique, and has so much detail.  Every fish/shell is different.

Ok, now that you've seen some of the detail, I want to compare the Montessori By Mom box to a typical job that you might order from a Montessori supply store, just to see the difference and do a price comparison.  I did this to see if my money was being well spent and to compare the quality.

I pulled out my set of phonetical objects, purchased at an online Montessori (discount) supply store for $60+s&h.  Montessori By Mom is $39.95+s&h/month when you subscribe to a year or $45.95+s&h/month.

As you can see, there are quite a few objects...

The discount supply store job did not come with a mat or anything to display the job (which is typical).  But since I wanted to show you the two exhibits (Montessori By Mom and the other Montessori job), I put the items in a basket I had on hand:

Left: Montessori By Mom, May 2014 box, Right: Montessori discount store job

Ok, another BIG thing to mention, while we are still comparing, is that there is no other place where you can get a job AND get detailed instruction on using the materials for numerous jobs and teaching objectives.  When I got the box, Montessori By Mom hadn't posted the instructional videos on their website yet, so I guessed the obvious jobs.  When they announced that the videos had posted, there were at least 4-5 other jobs and concepts that I hadn't even thought of!  You really can use this for years, and for multiple children.

One thing that I was personally thrilled with was that, the day after I explained to him what "0" (zero) meant, he saw the number "0" on something and said "MOM!!!  That means NOTHING!!!".  I almost cried... lol.

So, now that I've presented you with all the facts, you can make your own decision... but to REALLY see the beauty of the products, you should see it yourself!

And...if you want my son's opinion... these are now his new favorite jobs!

5/20/13 Update:

If you want to try out Montessori By Mom, use this code to get $10 off your first box!!: AFFAMCA