I want to set up as complete a Montessori learning environment as I can but sometimes the costs of materials is a little, or a lot out of my budget. There are some activities that I find a little redundant and I skip altogether but generally I attempt a DIY or dollar store version whenever I can. Mr Man (4) is very interested in math lately, he requests that I write out math problems for him to solve multiple times a day. I looked into getting the math problems and solutions boxes from my local Montessori supply store but at $40 per box and four boxes it seemed outrageous to me. So I went to Dollar Tree where I knew they had math flash cards. I bought one box of each- Addition, Subtraction, Division, and Multiplication. What I like about these flash cards is that the answer is on the back so the activities I made could be self correcting. I looked through the cards and removed any problems that had numbers beyond the scope of our current materials and then created some color coded folders for each set. I made a matching notebook with the same colors and blank grid paper inside. Now whenever Mr Man wants to do math he grabs a folder of problems, and his notebook and whatever other tools he needs and can do the activities entirely independently. He takes great pride in being able to do works like these without my help, and I am very pleased with my $4 solution to the $120 problem boxes.
