Movement is an essential factor in intellectual growth.
Dr. Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood, p. 201
Learn how to integrate sports into your Montessori environment
At your own pace, in your own time
Why Montessori and Sports?
More than 6 billion people in the world are interested in sports. It is universal in its appeal to children.
Furthermore, lack of movement is one of the biggest threats to health in modern societies. Technological developments contribute to a sedentary lifestyle. Obesity is a serious threat to mental health and quality of life.
Therefore, sports must be part of Montessori education.
Sport enhances children’s physical, emotional and spiritual development, provided that it is designed and maintained using Montessori principles.
Introduction to the course
This online course will help you acquire the basic knowledge on how to integrate sports into Montessori environments across all planes of development.
Objective: To acquire deep knowledge of how to integrate sports into learning experiences across all planes of development following Montessori principles.
The course contains:
- 57 videos
- 5 questionnaires
- 3 observation assignments
- 6 self-practice assignments
- 1 final assignment
- 1 personal graduation call with Montessori Sports Trainer (Zoom)
- downloadable lesson planning, observation formats, various articles
Duration: 3 months
Workload: 40 hours at your own pace, in your own time
After you’ve completed this course you:
- Understand the connection between sports and Montessori education across all planes of development.
- Understand how sports will contribute to overall child development across all planes of development.
- Have acquired basic sports skills to present to the children.
- Are able to prepare Montessori sports environments.
- Are able to guide Montessori sports sessions.
- Are able to conduct observations on children during the sports sessions.
Who is this course for?
The course is suitable for:
- Preschool and elementary teachers,
- Sports coaches and PE teachers,
- Assistant teachers,
- Parents (and other family members)
- Professionals working with children (teachers, babysitters, speech therapists, social workers)
- Anyone interested in Montessori (all adults interested in child development or considering a Montessori career)
Course Content
Introduction
I. Welcome to the course
II. A message from Lynne Lawrence (CEO of AMI)
III. Outline and objectives
IV. About Ruben Jongkind
V. About Patrick Oudejans
VI. About Heidi Philippart
Montessori and Sports
I. Who was Maria Montessori?
II. The Montessori educational philosophy
III. Montessori versus traditional education
IV. The history of sports
V. About movement and sports
VI. Analysis of sports in Montessori
The importance of sports in contemporary society
I. Sports as a point of interest
II. Benefits of sports
III. Why do sports in Montessori?
Systems of sports education
I. Traditional sports education
II. Montessori sports education
Movement development
I. The approach to movement
i. First plane (0-6)
ii. Second plane (6-12)
iii. Third plane (12-18)
iv. Fourth plane (18-24)
II. The four planes and sports
III. The Montessori Sports Curriculum
Preparing the sports environment
I. Principles of the prepared sports environment
II. Prepared sports materials
The Role of the adult in the sports environment
I. The prepared adult
II. Observation
III. Historical facts of observation
IV. Observation in sports
V. Lesson planning
Examples of different learning environments in sports
Conclusion and evaluation
Montessori Sports Team
Ruben Jongkind, Patrick Oudejans and Jip Bartels
Ruben Jongkind is passionate about movement and sports and has coached world-class athletes in various disciplines before becoming the Head of Talent Development at Ajax Amsterdam’s academy. There, he introduced Montessori principles alongside Johan Cruyff, enhancing the training of top players. After his tenure at Ajax, he worked with Cruyff Football to promote Cruyff’s football legacy globally, and in 2018, he founded Montessori Sports, aiming to improve education through sports, with programs now running on five continents. Ruben holds a master’s degree in environmental science and business administration and earned an AMI Montessori 3-6 diploma in 2020.
Patrick Oudejans, who grew up in a family involved in grassroots football and community work, began his sports coaching career in 2005, working with children aged 6-12. He graduated in 2014 with an Honors BSc in Sports, Management, and Business, completing his thesis at the AFC Ajax youth academy. In 2013, while still a student, Patrick joined Ajax as a Data Analyst, helping to implement Plan Cruyff’s player-centered approach and exploring football environments internationally. He co-founded Montessori Sports with Ruben in 2018, aiming to integrate sports into Montessori education, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he developed an AMI accredited online course to integrate sports into daily activities with children.
Jip is a former professional football player at AFC Ajax. He was Student of the Year at the VU University Amsterdam (2015) and holds a MSc Business Administration from the University of Amsterdam (2017). He joined Ruben and Patrick from the start and obtained his 6-12 Orientation Course certificate from Melbourne in 2018 followed by an Administration course in 2023. He has worked together with many schools providing support with the implementation of sports within their Montessori environment. Jip believes that sports and Montessori is the best combination for young children.
Format
Online Course
for 3 months at each participant’s own pace with video presentations, lectures, tutorials, observation and self-practice tasks, and questionnaires.
Live sessions on Zoom
personal graduation call with Montessori Sports Trainer (Zoom)
Online platform
is used for all communication assignment submissions. It is very user-friendly and helps us stay structured.
Technical support
is available before, during and after the course.
To obtain the Montessori Sports Fundamentals certificate, all assignments will be checked and approved* by the Montessori Sports team. After the final assignments are approved, the participant will receive the certificate by email.
*If the assignments are not approved, the participant needs to complete an alternative assignment that we will send by email.
Certification
Founded in 1929 by the pioneering scientist and educator, Maria Montessori, AMI is the globally recognised authority on Montessori education and research, applying authentic Montessori principles in education and humanitarian work.
After years of cooperation and successful pilots Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and Montessori Sports decided to establish a strategic partnership to embed sports into Montessori education and to establish a Montessori Sports Fund (MSF) to bring Montessori education to sports-loving under-resourced communities.
Individual members and subscribed organisations of Montessori Society Bulgaria receive a 5% discount on the fee for participating in the course. Find out more about MSB Membership and Subscription opportunities.
For registration and contact
If you want to register for the upcoming AMI course or have any other questions, please contact us!
e-mail: office@imontessori.bg
Phone: +359 878 832 823
The course is run by Montessori Society Bulgaria and Montessori Sports.