This is the full series of lesson plans that I use to teach lacrosse to my lower and upper elementary students.
This history matters because the private travel-league industry in America essentially looked at the European club model, hijacked its structure, and ran it through a ruthless, hyper-capitalist filter. The club model has been reintroduced into America, but it has been perverted by capitalism into a new and nefarious form of elitism. Gone is the ethos of community and affordability, non-competitive youth development, and for the good of public health. Instead, they weaponized the American parents' deepest anxieties: the fear of their child falling behind, the obsession with "elite" status, and the multi-million-to-one lottery ticket of a college athletic scholarship.
The heart of Montessori Physical Education has absolutely nothing to do with AI. It has everything to do with what makes us human. We love to play. We observe, and we learn.
I could have started the class with a lecture on architectural stability or "spoon-fed" them the answer by suggesting they build wide bases. But real learning happens in the gap between a plan and a collapse. I let the trial, error, and "epic failures" play out naturally.
The more meaningful question is not simply whether children should sit out, but rather what the child is learning by sitting out.
