11th European Nienhuis Montessori Retreat program 2023

mon t e s s o r i s i n c e 1929

3 - 5 NOVEMBER 2023

Did you really see , what you think you saw ?

11th European Nienhuis Montessori Retreat

Did you really see, what you think you saw? Observation in the different planes of development The greatest challenge to observation lies in our own preconceptions, prejudgments, and expectations. Montessori training focuses on discovering and transforming such obstacles within ourselves. But another great challenge is making the time to observe. Sometimes, when we observe it feels as if we aren’t ‘working’. But in fact, observation is the foundation of Montessori work. Embracing that fact will be a big step towards committing the time every day throughout the day to observe and discover – without prejudice – what children constantly reveal through their own activity. And only on the basis of those revelations can we plan effective responses. “We ourselves have lost this deep and vital sensitiveness, and in the presence of children in whom we see it reviving, we feel as if we were watching a mystery being unfolded. It shows itself in the delicate act of free choice, which a teacher untrained in observation can trample on before she even discerns it, much as an elephant tramples the budding flower about to blossom in its path.” Maria Montessori - The Absorbent Mind, p. 248

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On orders placed before, during or in the week after the Retreat we offer all participants a discount of 20% and free shipping on all shipments within the EU.

20% discount and free shipping

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Program

Friday 3 November

17:00 Welcome

Chris

17:30 Some people watch sports, others observe

Ruben

19:30 Dinner & drinks

21:30 End

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Saturday 4 November

08:30 Entrance

Madlena (+ Marilyne)

09:00 Becoming an observer

10:30 Break

Talking about observing and observing what is being talked about

11:00

Carla

12:30 Lunch

15:00 Workshops

18:00 Dinner & drinks

21:30 End

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Program

Sunday 5 November

08:30 Entrance

Patricia & Jenny

09:00 Observation on 2 levels, a comparison

10:30 Break

Patricia & Jenny

11:00 Observation on 2 levels, a comparison - continued

12:30 End

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Lecture How do we talk to elementary children about what observation is, and how are they doing it? We want to make observation a natural part of the classroom community, rather than something the teacher is doing. We will also look into the importance of listening as part of observing elementary children. In the second part of this session, we will look into “Reflection - as an essential tool of self-construction”.

Carla Foster Carla Foster is originally from California, but has lived the last 14 years in Norway. She graduated from UC Berkeley, California with bachelor’s degrees in Social Anthropology and Scandinavian Studies and a masters in Old Icelandic Literature and Norwegian Literature. She has her AMI 3 - 6 diploma from the MMTO in London in 1984 and her AMI 6-12 diploma from Milwaukee in 1990 and has been working with elementary children since 1990. She had her own class in Norway for 12 years before joining the AMI Training of Trainers programme. Since then she has assisted on the AMI 6-12 summer course in London with Ann Dunne and the AMI 6-12 course in Chennai with Jean Miller. She is now training and lecturing in Norway and several other countries. Any spare time is spent doing various forms of dance.

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Speakers

Ruben Jongkind Movement and sports have always been Ruben’s passion. He worked with world class 800 metres athlete Bram Som, and several other Dutch champions in athletics, triathlon and pentathlon before taking on the responsibility of coaching at the famous academy of Dutch Football Club Ajax Amsterdam. Ruben was introduced to the Montessori philosophy through Ajax youth player Jamie Lawrence, the son of Lynne Lawrence, the CEO of Association Montessori Internationale. As Head of Talent Development of Ajax, he teamed up with Johan Cruyff and implemented Montessori principles into the academy, contributing to the development of world class players. Between 2015 and 2018 Ruben of Cruyff Football spreading Cruyff’s football legacy throughout the world. In 2018 he founded Montessori Sports with the aim to use the power of sports to improve education for all children. Montessori Sports programs run across five continents. Ruben initiated the Montessori Sports Fund to support indigenous communities to create and sustain learning environments for children, using the power of sports. Ruben is director of academy of the Dutch professional football club FC Volendam. He holds a master’s degree in environmental science and business administration and obtained the AMI Montessori 3-6 diploma in 2020 with AMI trainer Guadalupe Borbolla.

Lecture Why is it important to observe movement and sports through the lens of Montessori principles? Wewill illustrate this by discussing examples from different planes and environments. Movement and sports play a key role in human development and cultures around the world and thus has an important place in Montessori education. Whilst the world is facing health challenges, sports is a point of interest for children that can educate the human potential.

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Madlena Ulrich Madlena Ulrich spent her childhood in Germany and attended a Montessori Elementary school there. She moved to Norway as an adolescent and later obtained a Bachelor’s degree as a preschool teacher and is about to finish a Master’s degree in pedagogy at the university College of Vestfold, Norway. She took her original AMI 3-6 training at Mount St. Mary’s Montessori College in Dublin, Ireland. Since 1995 she has worked in the classroom and has been involved in the development of Montessori in Norway by giving lectures and serving as Vice President on the board for the national association NMF. In 2008 she started on her Training of Trainers, spending two years with Molly O’Shaughnessy in Minnesota and a Summer course with Ulla Wikefeldt in Sweden. She is currently part of the AMI faculty in China and trains and lectures in Norway as well as in many other countries.

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Speakers

Lecture: Becoming an observer The Art of Observation is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced so it serves our needs. We will look deeper into how prejudice, bias, gorillas, and other hindrances keep influencing and distorting our view and how we can learn to become aware of these. We will also look at how we can integrate observation in our daily work and make sure that the observation notes are not stowed away in the bottom drawer, but used actively for our planning.

Marilyne Maugin After finishing her ‘Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies’ in medieval literature at the university of Lyon Lumières, Marilyne moved to London, where she finished her doctorate, and was giving college at the university on French civilization and medieval literature. When she returned to France in 2001, she finished her AMI 3-6 diploma. For 10 years she worked as a Montessori teacher in several schools in and around Paris. In 2015 she finished het AMI 6-12 diploma course, and in 2017 Marilyne started the AMI Training of Trainers program (3 – 6). She is now working at the Institut Supérieure Maria Montessori in Paris, where she training new teachers, consulting Montessori kindergartens and is still doing research together with the ISMM-trainers.

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Patricia Wallner has been working in Montessori since 1970. She took her AMI 3-6 diploma in Washington D.C. and the 0-3 diploma in Houston, Texas with Dr. Silvana Montanaro. For 17 years she worked in a bilingual Infant Community in Amsterdam, The Netherlands where she lives. In 1995 she began the Training of Trainers program supported by the Association Montessori Internationale and during her training earned a Master’s degree in Education. She has trained students and lectured in Europe, Asia and the U.S.A. Her goal is to promote Montessori, especially for the 0-3 age group in Europe.

Patricia Wallner

Lecture The 0-3 children represent the birth of the individual and the 12-15 young people represent the birth of the adult, and these two sub-planes of development have much in common. Often what we observed in the 0-3 age group we are able to observe with the adolescents. Patricia (0-3 age group) and Jenny Marie (Adolescent age group) will look at various aspects of the observation done at both of these levels and once again, compare and contrast these two age groups.

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Speakers

Jenny Marie Höglund Jenny Marie holds AMI diplomas for the ages 3-6 and 6-12. She has mainly worked with the 6-12 and 12-18 (adolescents). She also holds a M.Ed. and she is an established AMI Elementary trainer. Jenny Marie was one of the founders of the Montessori School “Lära för Livet” in Varberg, Sweden in 1995, teaching children from 1 till 16 years of age. She founded and runs the first and so far the only Swedish Montessori Farm School. Jenny Marie has taught elementary and adolescent students for over twenty-three years.

She has been serving as head of school since 2006. She has also lectured at the International Centre for Montessori Studies Foundation-Bergamo (CISM), in Italy since 2006.

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Practical information on the Nienhuis Montessori Retreat

Language The main language which will be used during this weekend will be English. We would like you to organize your own translator if you need any. Costs The costs for this Montessori Retreat will be €75 per person. Except for breakfast all meals and drinks are included (2 x dinner & 1 x lunch). The maximum number of participants is 150. We have set a limit on the number of persons per school to 8. We hope you understand that we would like to let as many schools possible benefit from this beautiful weekend. If you wish to come with more persons, please send an email to m.hereijgers@heutink.com. We will contact you if we have free places left. Special Offer Special Offer during this weekend Nienhuis Montessori offers you a 20% discount on all orders and free shipping on all shipments within the EU. Please feel free to benefit from this generous offer! Please send in your orders in advance by email to m.hereijgers@heutink.com, so that we can already make the necessary preparations. Address In 2022 we moved houses to our new headquarters in Nijverdal. Our new address is Heutink, Anders Celsiusstraat 15, 7442 PB Nijverdal, The Netherlands. Nijverdal is located in the eastern part of the Netherlands near the German border. There are different ways to reach us:

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Information

By (rental) car As we are all used to GSP navigation devices nowadays, just enter our new address and we are sure that you will find our new headquarters. It is located about one hour north of our previous headquarters in Zelhem.

By plane/train from Amsterdam You can easily plan your journey from Amsterdam to Nijverdal by using www.9292.nl. This is the national public transport website which is used in the Netherlands. Make sure that you arrange your own transport from your accommodation to Heutink / Nienhuis and back. Accommodation In order to find a place to stay you can use the familiar websites to find hotels like www.booking.com or www.trivago.com. Another possibility is to stay at an affordable rate at a bed & breakfast nearby our company. You can use www.bedandbreakfast.nl to find a b&b nearby our company. Registration You can register by using the following link: nienhuisretreat2023.paperform.co/ After your registration we will contact you for more detailed information about the participants so that we will be able to prepare your badge for the event.

The last date to register for this Montessori Retreat is 20 October 2023.

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Nienhuis Anders Celsiusstraat 15, 7442 PB Nijverdal, The Netherlands Phone: +31 (0) 88 20 35 700 info@heutink.com | www.nienhuis.com

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