We recently launched our Teach Me How Collective Etsy shop where you can find a variety of upcycled educational kits for reasonable prices; these instructional kits are perfect for classroom teachers and homeschooling families! I have plans to add a variety of downloadable products as well and many more thematic kits as I continue to collect materials.
I've spent many years creating my own collection of language objects for use in my Montessori classroom despite the fact that large kits can just be purchased online, if you have the money to throw down. I sort of enjoyed the hunt and, at the time, it wasn't in the budget.
Our mission at the Teach Me How Collective, beyond saving teachers & parents valuable time, is to disrupt how people thing about trash by finding creative ways to repurpose & reuse items that might otherwise end up in a landfill. This means that the great majority, more than 90%, of the items used in the curation of all of our educational kids are upcycled from discarded games, toys, charms, knick-knacks and other small household items; the rest of our items (such as hard to find objects for letter sounds like /u/ or /q/) are sourced from websites & stores as needed and a few items are lovingly hand-make in house!
Currently, most of the offerings revolve around Montessori inspired language object sets that are perfect to add to your own language object collection or use for early literacy letter sound instruction. All alphabet sound kits come with 26 objects and printed & laminated word word cards, shipped inside of an upcycled bag or box of some type.
As a sidenote, it's important to mention that due to the repurposed nature of many of our items, some items may show minor imperfections and evidence of a past life (think along the lines of the life of the toys in the movie Toy Story here!). All items in our kids have been thoroughly cleaned and inspected for loose or missing parts; some objects even undergo a mini-make over with a it of touch up paint here and there!
And also, I need to give this WARNING (although it seems common sense) - most Teach Me How Collective educational kits contain small parts that are a choking hazard for young children. Items are not intended for use by children under the age of 3. Adult supervision is recommenced for any an all use of the items contained in the kits, regardless of age.
Have junk? Want to help? The Teach Me How Collective accepts donations of small toys and other knick-knacks. Please contact me via email at erinymedley@gmail.com to learn how to set up a donation!
