2nd EUROPEAN NIENHUIS MONTESSORI RETREAT

Zelhem, 18 September 2013
2nd EUROPEAN NIENHUIS MONTESSORI RETREAT
Dear Montessorian,
Every year in many countries Montessori conferences and refresher courses are being organised by
national and European Montessori Associations. Of course all these events are very valuable for
extending people’s knowledge of Montessori education and exchanging experiences and ideas.
With the same purpose and together with many experienced Montessorians Nienhuis Montessori has
been organising the so-called Nienhuis Montessori Days in several countries like The Netherlands,
Germany, Switzerland, South Tirol (I), Poland and Czech Republic. Mostly on a national level. These
days have become more and more popular.
The main reason for this increasing popularity probably is the quality of the programme and the
affordable price of these days. We have always had the support of many AMI trainers, AMI trained
teachers or very experienced Montessorians with another background. One of these persons is living
in The Netherlands, namely Patricia Wallner, AMI trainer 0 – 3.
Last year, together with the help and support of Patricia Wallner, Nienhuis Montessori had the first
experience of a new event format, namely an European forum for sharing and conversation. The
main idea was to gather and share experiences in an informal setting. The name chosen for this new
Montessori event was MONTESSORI RETREAT.
Because of its enormous success and very positive feedback, we planned a second edition of this
event. It will take place again in Zelhem, The Netherlands from 15th – 17th November 2013 at the
head offices of Nienhuis Montessori. Of course one of the initiators, Patricia Wallner is going to
speak and lecture again during this second edition but we also found Madlena Ulrich, AMI trainer
3 – 6 from Norway, and Jean Miller, AMI trainer 6 – 12 willing to make a considerable contribution.
The costs for this weekend are only €75 a person (including 2 x dinner and 1 x lunch) and on top of
this you can benefit from a 20% discount on Nienhuis Montessori materials.
Please look at the programme attached for more information and register now! We are looking
forward to welcome you at the second European Nienhuis Montessori Retreat.
Kind regards,
Nienhuis Montessori
Christian Willemsen
Sales & Marketing Manager
2nd European Nienhuis Montessori Retreat
Music and the Brain
15 – 17 November 2013
learn, share and connect
15/11/2013
Friday
16:00
Registration
17:00
Opening & Introduction
17:10
The human brain is a musical brain
19:00
Dinner
16/11/2013
Saturday
09:00
Sensorial aspects and language of the
t Montessori Bells
10:30
Coffee break
11:00
Secrets of Musical Notation and the Tone bars (I)
12:30
Lunch
13:30
Music acitivities, principles and suggestions
15:00
Coffee break
15:30
Sharing Round and Discussions
17:00
End
17:30
Dinner
Patricia Wallner
Madlena Ulrich
Jean Miller
17/11/2013
Sunday
09:00
Secrets of Musical Notation and the Tone bars (II)
10:30
Coffee break
11:00
Sharing Round and Discussions
12:30
End
Jean Miller
Speakers
Patricia Wallner – AMI Trainer 0 – 3
Patricia Wallner has been working in Montessori since 1970. She took her AMI 3-6
diploma in Washington D.C. and the 0-3
0 diploma in Houston, Texas with Dr. Silvana
Montanaro and Judi Orion. For 17 years she worked in a bilingual Infant Community
in Amsterdam, The Netherlands where she lives. In 1995 she began the Training of
Training program supported by the Association Montessori Europeane
European and during her
training earned a Master’s degree in Education. She has trained students in Rome
(Italy), London (England), Gold Coast (Australia), Yokohama (Japan),
(Japan), Varberg
(Sweden), Zürich (Switzerland), St. Petersburg (Russia) and in the USA in San Diego
California, and Portland,
Portlan Oregon. She has lectured Europeanly
ly in Asia, Europe,
Australia and the U.S.A.
The human brain is a musical brain
Why is music beneficial to human beings? Why is it good for the brain? Why is it just an natural thing
for humans?
Madlena Ulrich – AMI Trainer 3 – 6
Madlena Ulrich spent her childhood in Germany and attended a Montessori
Elementary school there. She moved to Norway
rway as an adolescent and later obtained
a Bachelor’s degree as a preschool teacher
teacher and is about to finish a Master’s degree
in pedagogy at the university
univers College of Vestfold, Norway. She took her original AMI
3-6
6 training at Mount St. Mary’s Montessori College in
n Dublin, Ireland. Since 1995 she
has worked in the classroom and has been involved in the development of
Montessori in Norway
orway by giving lectures and
and serving as Vice President on the board
for the national association NMF.
NMF In 2008 she started on her Training of Trainer’s,
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
lectures in Norway as well as other countries.
The Montessori Bells
Did you know that Mozart was the most kissed child in Europe? Or that Beethoven annoyed a lot of
people because he did not care about order, cleanliness or even good manners? Come to a weekend
full of stories, songs and rhythm and learn more fascinating facts and tales about music, musicians
and how to work with these activities in a Montessori Environment. Music is a language for selfself
expression and deeply connected to our feelings and imagination. It has a special place in our lives,
not only in the heart, but also in the mind of human beings. Being so important for us, music
therefore
re has to be part of the prepared Montessori environment too. Singing,
inging, dancing, listening to
music and playing instruments should all be part of the school’s daily life. Even modest skills in
matters of singing or playing an instrument are enough to expose the child to the world of music.
The Montessori Bells and connected materials assist the child in the exploration of pitch, melody
and notation. In the course of the weekend, we will explore the sensorial aspects and the language
of the bells.
Jean Miller – AMI Trainer 6 – 12
Dr Jean Miller received her Doctorate of Education from Case WesternUniversity
Western
in
1981. Her Doctorate dissertation is titled “The Montessori Music Curriculum for
Children Up to the Age of Six.” Trained in Bergamo, Italy, she holds
ho
an AMI 6-12
Diploma. She received
recei
an AMI 3-6 Diploma from the Montessori
ori Institute in
Cleveland.
leveland. Jean Miller has over 40 years of experience working with children in both
private and public
blic Montessori schools. She has given lectures and workshops to
colleges
lleges and Montessori groups throughout the world. Dr Miller is an AMI certified
consultant, examiner, and Primary (6-12)
(6 12) teacher trainer. She has been the music
m
lecturer at training centers
center in both North America and Europe.
Secrets of Musical Notation and
d the Tone bars
Second Plane/Elementary aged children love to hear stories about how and why things happened.
These kinds of stories may be used to help children understand the history of the development of
musical notation. This part of the Montessori Retreat builds on the note reading that begins with the
bells. It includes little stories and/or activities about how musical notation developed such as:
• the development of the musical staff
• the story of clefs
• scales in Western music
• the rules of the musical
al game
The activities associated with these stories will use the bells, the staff boards and the notation
materials that go with the boards along with the tone bars and the hand made materials associated
with the tone bars.
Practical information
Here you’ll find some practical information about the conference.
Language
The main language which will be used during this weekend will be English. We would like you to
organise 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.
Special Offer
During this weekend Nienhuis Montessori offers you a 20% discount on all orders. Please feel free to
benefit from this generous offer! If you could send in your orders in advance by email, we can
already make the necessary preparations.
Travel
Our address is Nienhuis Montessori, Industriepark 14, 7021 BL Zelhem. Zelhem is located in the
eastern part of the Netherlands near the German border. There are different ways to reach us:
By car from Germany
Follow the highway A3 from Oberhausen to Arnhem. Just when you crossed the border you need to
take exit number 30 with direction Doetinchem. Turn left at the end of the exit. Take highway A18
with direction Doetinchem. Leave the highway at the exit which shows ‘Zelhem’. Follow the signs
‘Zelhem’. Nienhuis Montessori is located at the Industrial Area named ‘Het Blek’. When you have
reached a roundabout you take the first exit. Turn left at the 2nd road on the left. This is
Industriepark and our company (a white building) is located at your right hands side, no. 14.
By plane/train from Amsterdam
You can easily plan your journey from Amsterdam to Zelhem 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 Nienhuis and back.
Stay
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 sending an email to m.hereijgers@nienhuis.nl with the following information:
Schoolname
Names of the participant(s)
Address
Zipcode and City
Phone number
Email
The last date to register for this Montessori Retreat is 31 October 2013. After your registration you
will receive an invoice. This invoice has to be paid in advance. Soon after we have received your
payment you will receive an official confirmation of your participation.