Kghios Montessori Math Beads Toys Materials for Toddlers Golden Beads and Cards Materials Bank Game Thousand Cube Decimal System Mathematics Teaching Materials Baby Preschool Education Toys

Is it worth hundreds of dollars for the full, 'authentic' set of Montessori golden beads? Maybe, maybe not. If, like me, you are looking for an intro set for your child, this is a GREAT way to go! Material: First, let's acknowledge that this is plastic. It is not glass or wood, so if you refuse to have plastic materials, then this set is not for you. (And, hey, I get it, I cringe at lots of plastic, too.) If, however, your priority is to give your child Montessori lessons and you don't want to break the bank--or you want to dabble in golden beads to 'test the waters' with your child, so to speak--then I highly recommend this product. Sensorial: I love the way the little single unit beads clink around in the cup! And I love the clean look of the thousand cube without all of the wire loops at the top. It is a thousand beads, nothing more and nothing less, which I feel gives a great, uncluttered visual representation. The plastic is a vintage gold or antique gold color, which is sort of a grey-green gold color, very true to what I see when I look at the picture in the product listing. I would love to see this in a color more similar to other golden bead sets, even like Kghios's other products (see photo comparing the gold beads in this set to the beads in their seguin board set), but I have to hand it to them, this is more gold than the yellow-orange beads in the other set are, so they are true to name. Color is a personal preference, but I find these to be pleasing enough, personally. Durability: I will come back and edit this review if I discover these to not withstand the onslaught of my toddler's interest, but my initial impression is that these are surprisingly well-built. The plastic beads are solid and seem as durable as plastic beads could possibly get. The cards that come with this set are *not* very durable, though, and I will probably have to laminate them or just plan to print new cards as they get damaged, which they undoubtedly will in a very short period of time if left the way they are. Practical: I love the tray that comes with this set--both the fact that it comes with a tray at all and the actualy design of the tray itself! The tray is well-built with rounded edges and is just the right size to accommodate the thousand cube and the bag full of the other items. The handles are perfect for little hands, too! I also love that this comes with a bag that holds all of the smaller pieces; it is made of really good material, although the stitching looks like it may be subpar--time will tell on that. Other: I feel the company would do well to include several of each number card. Currently, there aren't any duplicates of the number cards, and I find that having the equal sign is sort of impractical as a result since you cannot realistically represent equality in a numerical way with only a single set of number cards. It also makes adding amounts with shared numbers impractical (such as 852 + 813....or 156 + 52......or 64+34......). Also, I wish there were 2 or more cups, because, as you can see in one of the photos, I could only put single units on one side in a cup, but not the single units on the other side. I also wish the beads were the same size as the beads in other sets so that I could use the other products I bought (such as Kghios's Seguin board set) in conjunction with each other. This is definitely a different, separate product from the others. Overall: Going into this knowing it was going to be a cheaper version of the 'authentic' golden beads, I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised with what I received. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a less-expensive option!

Got everything advertised plus 15 extra single beads to make 45. Quality looks great! We’re pleased.

Great product. It would be nice if it came with more than one thousand cube so that kids can add/subtract from the thousands place. But it’s otherwise a nice set.

It's just right to carry room to room, and it has just enough that you don't need to barrow from the classroom's set which could be in use. If you aren't familiar with the Golden beads, it a concreate way to demonstrate exchanges and decomposing between place values so students effectively learn addition and subtraction.

Good appearance, good quality and optimal prizing.

Simple and enough pieces to show 1,999!

I was surprised at the quality, realizing when I purchased that it was plastic. The numbers are sturdy and stack perfectly. This is used for one homeschool child.

Montessori toys or material are expensive in general. I love how you can get a minimal set of beads for all place values and a set of number cards for an affordable price. My biggest drawback is the size of the number cards. It's too small to hold and not very convenient to use. I would prefer bigger cards for the same set.Otherwise it's a good starter set.