kidadvance.com

[lisalu100]

I am shopping for toddler materials for DD, she'll be one next month. I love the michael olaf site, but it's expensive, and I came across this site

http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/cate...Id=1&offset=24

The materials are very reasonable, but made in China, specifically for this website it says.

Does anyone have any experience with them? My DD is very prone to putting things in her mouth, but I do still have a couple Melissa and Doug toys etc, and have plenty of hand-me-down toys for her, so I wonder why I am bothered in this case? Maybe because I am the one actually doing the purchasing this time?

We are pretty strapped for cash, I would only be buying one or two things.

TIA

[jenfl]

Nearly all the Montessori materials out there -- unless you go really high-end -- are made in China.

[chekhovgirl]

Originally Posted by lisalu100

I am shopping for toddler materials for DD, she'll be one next month. I love the michael olaf site, but it's expensive, and I came across this site

http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/cate...Id=1&offset=24

The materials are very reasonable, but made in China, specifically for this website it says.

Does anyone have any experience with them? My DD is very prone to putting things in her mouth, but I do still have a couple Melissa and Doug toys etc, and have plenty of hand-me-down toys for her, so I wonder why I am bothered in this case? Maybe because I am the one actually doing the purchasing this time?

We are pretty strapped for cash, I would only be buying one or two things.

TIA

I have some from Kid Advance and some from Montessori Outlet- go with Montessori Outlet. It's pretty comparable to Kid Advance in price and it's better quality.

[AllyRae]

I have almost everything in our Montessori room from Kid Advance (we had a rather large tax return due to having a baby, buying a car, and buying a house and put about $3K into fully outfitting our homeschooling room). Most of the stuff we bought is really really actually nice, especially considering the cost. The only two things that weren't the greatest quality were the pink tower and the broad stairs--they got chips in the first week. But...that might be because I have 3 kids that are not all that careful. :

I compared KA to MO and it was actually over $1K more to buy everything at MO than KA. And for what we're using it for (a homeschooling room with a 3 year old and a 1 year old who will also eventually be using it), the quality is just fine. I wouldn't get it from KA with the hopes of using it for 15 kids at once, but for what we used it for, it was great. We got our order within a week and only had issues with one thing (the hardware for the map shelf was missing...called them up and they shipped out a new one right away).

We are happy with them and would use them again with no hesitation.

ETA: Most of the stuff we have looks *exactly* like what I've seen in my 6 year old's private montessori school--even the maps and puzzles. So, I'm not entirelly convinced that their quality is any lower than many of the discounted places...