F.A.Q

Montessori Spirit acts as a cooperative, and as Europe's leading Nienhuis distributor, offers you a 10% discount on public Nienhuis or GAM prices all year round, thanks to its purchasing volume.

Montessori Spirit also owns a school, knows and uses the equipment, and we know the investment it represents for you! 

Montessori Spirit it's a way of bringing you approved, quality equipment at the best price, and of helping to develop teaching methods, by supporting all players equally, whether private or professional.

The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) was founded by Maria Montessori and her son Mario in 1929. This association brings together and protects Maria Montessori's research work, both on materials and their handling, in order to respect the integrity of the pedagogy and thus its proper functioning. The AMI is the guarantor of this pedagogy, protecting, developing and promoting it throughout the world, by supporting actions, organizing conferences and other events.

Any purchase of AMI-approved materials means thata portion is donated to AMI, to give it the means to carry out its activities. It's a powerful gesture: to respect Maria Montessori's work ethically, as she wished, but also to help the active development of this pedagogy throughout the world.

Above all, of course, it's about consistent, coherent material that, with the right training and presentation, achieves its pedagogical goal with the child. That's why you won't find any pink half-turns here...

This store would probably never be in the right place for everyone, and you'd end up paying for it in the price of your equipment. This inevitably runs counter to our desire to bring you the lowest prices.

In the same way, we have refused all partnerships with large Internet marketplaces: we don't want to be mixed up with low-cost copies, nor do we want you to bear the 15% commission they all take.

We're here first and foremost to teach, we have a school ourselves, and our aim is to bring you the best prices, not to enlarge our pool... We're not a normal retailer in a mercantile scheme, and we're happy about that ;-)You can add any materials you like to your basket, whether they're available or not.

Montessori Spirit is Europe's leading distributor of approved Montessori materials, delivering worldwide.

Outside Europe, however, we need to quote for transport costs and draw up an estimate.

These cannot be calculated automatically by the site, as the thousands of references generate hundreds of possibilities, and must be calculated as accurately as possible.

We never make any money from shipping costs, but we don't like to make customers think it's free, so we try to be as fair as possible ;-)

We display the availability of each item. This reliable availability is indicative, however, as we cannot have and display the stocks of the various suppliers in real time. We update these availability dates every week (usually by the end of the day on Fridays).

This availability can be of 3 kinds:

Product available

The product is available as usual.

Don't worry, by the time your order has been processed and dispatched, you should have it within 4 to 5 working days.

An automatic tracking number from DHL or Chronopost will be sent to you by email as soon as your order is dispatched, so that you can follow its progress.

Product with lead time

The product is not available immediately, but is announced at a certain date.

This date is indicative, but generally reliable. However, due to manufacturing problems or delays, it can sometimes be brought forward, which is good news!

The product is fully orderable and will be sent to you automatically as soon as it becomes available.

If your order includes products that are available and those that are not: you will receive the available products immediately, and the others will follow as soon as they become available, at no extra cost of course.

Product with no known date

The product is out of stock, and has probably been out of stock for some time and needs to be remanufactured.

We're involved in industrial processes, and lead times can vary from a few weeks to several months: we have to postpone other productions, make this one, check it, transport it... it all takes time.

The product is perfectly orderable though, and the first to reserve it will be the first to be served: Nienhuis sometimes brings in small quantities as orders come in, while waiting for the product to be fully stocked.

Yes, the site is open to all! This is one of the primary roles of Montessori Spirit : to bring the same quality, approved equipment to everyone, without distinction, and at the best price.

So a school that opens and buys a lot of equipment will pay the same price for its pink tower as an individual who buys "just" that for his or her child. This system reflects the true value of materials, and is fair and supportive. We're not a furniture retailer who offers a 50% discount on large orders and charges full price to individuals, penalizing them twice over! We're in favor of a real economy, with everyone getting the same, fairest prices on equipment, all year round.

Yes, the site is open to all! This is one of the primary roles of Montessori Spirit : to bring the same quality, approved equipment to everyone, without distinction, and at the best price.

So a school that opens and buys a lot of equipment will pay the same price for its pink tower as an individual who buys "just" that for his or her child. This system reflects the true value of materials, and is fair and supportive. We're not a furniture retailer who offers a 50% discount on large orders and charges full price to individuals, penalizing them twice over! We're in favor of a real economy, with everyone getting the same, fairest prices on equipment, all year round.

Yes, of course we accept administrative orders. We work with many nurseries, town halls, hospitals and schools.

To place an administrative order, we draw up a quotation which must be presented to your local council. The town hall, which is the paying institution, must return this signed/stamped and validated order form to us by e-mail or post.

Once we've received this validated estimate, we'll send you the materials you've ordered, then invoice the town hall.

You can request a quote online (choose "Quote" at the end of your shopping cart), or by email/courier with :

• references and quantities required,
• the address of the school or establishment to be supplied
• the address of the town hall or other paying establishment

Delivery times vary from country to country, depending on the time and day of the order, but are generally between 4 and 5 working days in Europe.

Everything comes directly from Nienhuis in the Netherlands or GAM in Italy, saving time, CO2 and money.

Tracking is always sent to you as soon as your order is dispatched, so that you can follow your order.