Montessori for Aging
and Dementia
Introductory Course & Certification Course
If you would like to create a dementia care environment where everyone flourises,
this innovative program is for you!
There is a better way.
Step 1:
Enroll in our comprehensive 12-hour introductory course:
From Can’t to Can Do! Montessori for Aging and Dementia (in English or Spanish).
This is the prerequisite course for the Practitioner Certification course (Step 2).
It is available 100% online, at a fraction of the cost of hiring Jennifer personally. You will receive access to over 20 videos, useful handouts and implementation activities that walk you through an easy and transformative program to get real results. You can sign up at any time and go through it at your own speed. Students have access to all of the material for 90 days. NCCAP CEUs available.
Inside the course you’ll:
- Understand the real reason why elders become depressed, exit seek, and walk about — and learn the exact steps you can take to prevent these behaviors from happening (instead of simply trying to “manage” them)
- Discover a powerful (and little-known) approach to dementia care that will totally change your perspective on aging and dementia
- Learn the first thing you should do to create a sense of community between staff and residents (it’s not what you think)
- Create an engaging life enrichment program (appropriate for people at a variety of cognitive levels) in a way that transforms the culture of a long-term care center and ultimately frees up staff time dramatically
- Learn the process for changing a ho-hum activity program into a dynamic and engaging person-centered program that keeps people interested and has them coming back for more
- Successfully reduce or eliminate the repetitive questioning behaviors that so often characterize those living with cognitive impairment
- Start using a simple tool for helping people with cognitive impairment participate in meaningful conversations, leading to an improved situation for both the care partner and the person with dementia
- Identify the mistakes almost everyone unknowingly makes in wayfinding and signage, leading to confusion and discord — and find out how to correct them
- Develop the skills to effectively communicate with people with dementia, so they easily understand what you are trying to convey
- Discover how to help people with dementia learn new or previously known information. Yes, people with cognitive impairment can learn and retain new information! We’ll show you how, step by step.
We’ve made learning easy and convenient in an online format that gives you lots of flexibility.
Group Discounts available for 10 or more.
Step 2:
Enroll in our innovative Montessori Practitioner Certification Course (in English or Spanish).
- This in-depth course enables you to implement roles and activities and create a prepared environment for older adults using Montessori principles. You can serve as a role model and leader in your community and help to establish Montessori programming. You will not be qualified to serve as a trainer.
- It will take a minimum of 60-80 hours over six months to complete all the requirements.
- The course involves reading 4 books that you must purchase, completing case studies, writing a short paper and successfully completing a test.
- When you successfully complete this in-depth study, you are eligible to earn two certificates: A Practitioner Certificate in Montessori for Aging and Dementia from Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and a Montessori Elder Care Practitioner from Brush Development.
- To be eligible for Certification, you must have completed the Brush Development From Can’t to Can Do! Montessori for Aging and Dementia Introductory Course within one year of enrollment in the 6-month Certification class.
- The course takes six months to complete.
- Anyone in any country who meets the requirements can apply.
- Please read this summary handout: How to get started with Montessori
- Complete our Introductory course: From Can’t to Can Do! Montessori for Aging and Dementia
- Registration for this course is open for the first two weeks of January and July only.
CLICK HERE JULY 1 TO REGISTER - Upon receipt of your registration, you will receive log in access to our online class portal. Once logged in, you will have access to handouts, recorded material, certificate requirements, and live coaching sessions. All material is available in both English and Spanish.
- The Practitioner’s Certificate course is a mentored self-study that meets once a month online for a one-hour coaching session and group discussion. This is your opportunity to network with other students from around the world, to ask questions, discuss how the Montessori philosophy pertains to dementia care, etc.
- You complete the requirements at your own pace through our online portal; however, you are expected to log in on time to each coaching session and interact with the other students and discuss your case studies. Each month there are mandatory homework assignments to complete.
- The next class will be in July 2022. The course is offered on the last Tuesday of every month from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM EST in English and 7:30 Mexico City time in Spanish. We are willing to schedule other dates and time for international students or if there are enough requests for other time/date options.
- You can find the link and all class requirements in your online class portal.
- Please use a computer or tablet with a web cam, not a phone.
- You will be able to see and hear all of the students, as well as your instructor.
- The specific requirements are contained in the information packet you will receive upon registration.
- Complete at least two case studies with people living with dementia and complete the procedures and forms associated with the case study requirements.
- Write an essay
- Complete short homework assignments
- Complete suggested readings (4 short books)
- Complete a written examination
- Submit all assessment tasks and paperwork electronically to our online class portal.
Required Textbook for Class
Montessori for Elder and Dementia Care
This indispensable guide to Montessori for elders makes it possible for any care provider to understand and implement this innovative approach to aging.
Frequently Asked Questions
Anyone who lives and works with older adults!
More specifically, anyone who wants to create a dementia care environment where everyone flourishes should take this innovative program.
Past participants have included:
- Social workers
- Nurses
- Rehab therapists
- Dietitians
- Nursing assistants
- Administrators
- Life enrichment staff
- Family care partners
- Montessori Guides
Montessori transforms the way we think about dementia care because it puts the focus back on the person we’re serving and gives them an environment in which they can succeed.
Too often, communities who serve elders with dementia leave them sitting in wheelchairs with little to do other than the scheduled large group activities. People deserve a chance to continue to participate in their own hobbies and interests at a schedule that works best for them. With the From Can’t to Can Do! program, they’re given the chance to flourish.
What many people don't realize, however, is how dramatically Montessori for Aging and Dementia can change the satisfaction levels of the care partner, too. Whether you are a family member of a person living with dementia, healthcare professional, or program director, you'll benefit from the Montessori approach, personally and/or professionally.
Implementation of the approaches you learn in From Can’t to Can Do! results in actively engaged older adults with meaningful roles that empower them to contribute to the community. This enhances their independence and enriches their lives.
Most of the stress that healthcare professionals feel when assisting people with dementia stems from how much care they require or the responsive behaviors or actions they experience.
When elders are actively engaged in things they enjoy doing, they tend to repeat those activities and get better and better at doing them. As a result, individuals become more independent and require less staff assistance.
The skills they practice during Montessori activities, such as attention to task, fine and gross motor skills, turn taking, and following directions, can help elders to function independently during daily activities such as dressing and eating.
If you follow the steps in this training, you’ll free up time, reduce work stress and open up a whole new way of thinking about people with dementia.
The implementation of our program has been evaluated by outside researchers and has been shown to increase staff job satisfaction, and improve elder quality of life indicators, increase positive affect and engagement in elders. Group Discounts are available for 10 or more. Contact us to set up your account.
One thing that makes the Montessori approach so phenomenal, successful and simple is that it works whether you are an individual family member or a huge community serving hundreds of people with dementia, and it benefits anyone along the continuum of dementia. Whether the people you serve are living at home, attending an adult day program, in assisted living, or living in a skilled nursing home, the Montessori philosophy of life can work for them.
This is an approach to living. Living with purpose, meaning, and joyful engagement in life.
In the From Can’t to Can Do! program, you’ll be given the step-by-step process you need to be successful with the Montessori approach to dementia care.
You’ll also receive an abundance of real life examples from different communities around the world and how they’ve been able to implement the Montessori principles with their own staff and residents. You’ll be able to take from these examples and make them your own.
The initial cost of buying materials to get you started is really quite inexpensive. Many of the activities can be purchased from Montessori supply catalogs, but others can be made from family donations and materials from discount and craft stores.
Of course, any change requires a commitment of time and other resources – but the bottom line is that the From Can’t to Can Do! approach can work for anyone, and also pays off exponentially for both the caregiver and the person living with dementia.
Even if you’ve attended a workshop someplace else or read a book on Montessori, you have not received the information from Jennifer Brush’s point of view.
The depth and breadth of this course is exceptional, and it’s taught by the only Montessori trainer in the United States who has also served on the AMI Advisory Board for Montessori for Aging and Dementia since 2014. Jennifer helped to write the international guidelines for Montessori for Aging and Dementia care. And now, she's sharing this approach online exclusively in the From Can’t to Can Do! program.
What Our Students Are Saying
