Join the Waitlist for the January 1, 2027 Cohort

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AMI Montessori for Dementia, Disability and Aging Practitioner Certification Course

Hosted by The Montessori Institute of North Texas (MINT) 
Presented by the Montessori Care Partner Collaborative

You started with MDDA Introductory Workshop. This is where the practice deepens.

Live instruction from Margaret Jarrell. Real case studies. An AMI credential. And a community of people doing this work alongside you.

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The January 1, 2027 Cohort Is Coming

If this is not the right moment, whether you are still completing your Orientation or you simply need more time, the January 1, 2027 cohort will be here when you’re ready.

Leave your name and email below and we will reach out when enrollment opens.

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Who This Work Is For

  • You’ve completed the Montessori For Dementia, Disability and Aging Introductory Workshop (MDDA) and left with something you want to bring more fully into your practice.
  • You work with elders. In a home, a memory care unit, an adult day program, or a care setting of your own. The people in your care matter deeply to you.
  • You are ready to move from understanding Montessori principles to practicing them, consistently, alongside others doing this work in different settings around the world.
  • You want a credential that reflects the depth of what you have learned to do.

 

A Six-Month Guided Practice

The AMI Montessori for Dementia, Disability and Aging Practitioners Certification Course is a six-month guided practice designed to support care partners in moving from understanding Montessori principles to applying them, consistently and thoughtfully, in the settings where they already work.

This is not clinical practice. It is not group counseling. It is not licensure. It is professional development grounded in field work, built for care partners who are serious about this practice.

The MDDA Introductory Workshop, “From Can’t to Can Do!” workshop with Jennifer Brush and Brush Development, offered the why. Over the next six months, you will be living with the philosophy, seeing for yourself the shifts that become possible, and building a body of work that earns the credential at the end.

What You Will Walk Away With

The Credential

When all course requirements are met, practitioners will earn the AMI Montessori for Dementia, Disability and Aging Practitioners Course certificate, a globally recognized credential that is issued by the Association Montessori Internationale.

As a certified Montessori Dementia, Disability, and Aging Practitioner, you will be equipped to bring the Montessori philosophy of life fully into your home or community setting.

 

The Shifts

When Montessori principles are genuinely practiced, care partners often notice shifts they did not anticipate.

Greater steadiness in challenging moments.

 

Deeper understanding of what the elder in their care is communicating.

Less reactivity.

A clearer sense of purpose in work they are already doing.

What The Research Confirms

"Practitioners who completed this course demonstrated a significant increase in elders’ positive emotions and engagement in daily household activities."

Provider Magazine, December 1. Brush, J. & Benigas, J. (2019)

"Elders showed significantly higher levels of constructive engagement and increased pleasure and interest in daily life."

BMC Geriatrics, 21: 24, Chan, H., Yau, Y., Li, S., Kwong, K., Chong, Y., Lee, I., Yu, D. (2021)

"Care settings implementing Montessori principles saw significant increases in elders’ positive emotions, self-esteem, and sense of belonging, alongside increased engagement and higher employee job satisfaction."

The Journal of Nursing Home Research, 4: 64-70. Brush, J., Douglas, N., & Bourgeois, M. (2018)

"Elders demonstrated greater amounts of active engagement when Montessori principles were applied in their care setting."

Journal of Aging and Geriatric Medicine, 2: 2. Hindt, A., Morris, J., Sohre, J., and Buchanan, JA. (2018)

"Montessori-based care was associated with a reduction in disruptive behaviors including agitation, wandering, exit seeking, verbal abuse, and physical threats, along with increased social skills, social connection, and staff job satisfaction."

Dementia. Booth, S., Zizzo, G., Robertson, J. (2018)

"Elders experienced an increase in quality communicative interactions and improved overall well-being."

Journal of the American Medical Disorders Association, 17: 117-122. Sheppard CL, McArthur C, Hitzig S. (2016)

What Is Included

This is a six-month professional certification course with live instruction from Margaret Jarrell, field work in a care setting, and an AMI certificate at the end. The investment reflects the depth of that work.

AMI Certificate

When all requirements are met, practitioners earn an AMI certificate. This credential reflects what was actually done, six months of field work, two complete case studies, and time with an AMI Trainer who reviews every submission. Questions about what is required for completion are answered in the FAQ.

Six Monthly Self-Study Modules

From your first day in the portal you can see the full roadmap, every module title and outcome. Lessons unlock monthly so the cohort moves through the material together.

Six Live Sessions with Margaret Jarrell

Every month the cohort gathers live with Margaret Jarrell, AMI trainer and co-author of Montessori for Elder and Dementia Care. She teaches. You bring your real questions from the field. What happens in those sessions is not something a recording can replicate. Live sessions are not recorded. Attending every session is strongly encouraged -- this is where the content becomes practice, and that experience cannot be replicated after the fact.

Two Case Studies

This is where the learning becomes practice. Over six months, practitioners bring Montessori principles into their own care setting, work with a person they know, and document what unfolds. The case studies are not an assignment. They are the evidence of your growth and the record of what you learned to do.

Community is Part of the Structure

Practitioners move through this course as a cohort, a group of people doing this work in different settings around the world. Sharing case studies, engaging in experiential activities, and putting what you learn into practice are the important anchors of this course.

What's Inside the Self-Study Course

Six modules. One per month. Each one building on the last. From your first day in the portal you can see the full roadmap. Lessons unlock monthly so the cohort moves through the material together.
[Note the dates will change for January 2027 Cohort]

Module 1: July

Practitioner Requirements and Translating Montessori to Adults

Identify the requirements for selecting case study participants, navigate the certification process, and understand what Montessori for Adults looks like in practice.

Module 2: August

Getting Started with Montessori for Adults

Conduct an individualized assessment and develop a person-centered engagement plan that reflects meaningful, practical implementation strategies for someone in your care.

Module 3: September

Other Tools for Engagement

Explore intergenerational programming, apply communication and memory aid strategies for individuals living with dementia, and design a personalized memory book that supports meaningful engagement and life story work.

Module 4: October

Montessori Materials

Identify the key characteristics of Montessori materials, learn how to present new activities and roles to older adults, and select and adapt Montessori-inspired activities that support meaningful engagement, independence, and sensory experience.

Module 5: November

Dementia Friendly Environments

Identify the characteristics of a prepared Montessori environment, recognize environmental barriers in care settings, and apply dementia-friendly design principles to create spaces that support engagement, independence, and meaningful activity.

Module 6: December

Creating Well Being

Identify and respond to common challenges associated with dementia, apply the Spaced Retrieval process to support memory and independence, and complete the final requirements for course certification including your case study submission, online exam, and final presentation.

Module 7: January

Final Presentations

Reflect on six months of practice, present the work you have done in your care setting, and complete your certification as a Montessori Dementia, Disability, and Aging Practitioner.

A Few More Things Worth Knowing

Still don't have the answers you were looking for?
Feel free to contact us at [email protected]

 

Meet Your Guides

Margaret Jarrell

AMI MDDA Trainer 


Margaret Jarrell is an AMI Trainer for Montessori for Dementia, Disability and Aging and she teaches every live session in this course.

She trained directly under Jennifer Brush, spent ten years as a consultant with Brush Development, and has spent years since coaching educators and healthcare professionals in applying Montessori philosophy to enhance quality of life for older adults and people living with dementia.

What she brings to each live session is not theory. It is deep, practiced experience with this work.

Paige Krabill

Psy.D. 


Dr. Paige Krabill is a Clinical Psychologist and AMI-trained Montessori educator.

As Managing Member of the Montessori Care Partner Collaborative, she brings a clinical and developmental psychology lens that shapes how practitioners in this course understand behavior, communication, and the capacity of every person in their care.

Melissa Crenshaw

M.Ed. 


Melissa Crenshaw has spent over 20 years inside Montessori environments, from toddler communities to elder care settings.

As Founder of Community Casa Care Partner Services and Managing Member of MCPC, she brings the kind of grounded, cross-lifespan experience that only comes from having lived this work at every stage.

Jennifer Brush

Curriculum author. Co-author of Montessori for Elder and Dementia Care, Second Edition. 


Jennifer Brush built the curriculum at the foundation of this course. Her work and her textbook are foundational to everything practitioners engage with here.

Learn more at brushdevelopment.com

 

About the Montessori Care Partner Collaborative


The Montessori Care Partner Collaborative was founded on a simple belief: that Montessori principles belong across the full arc of human life.

MCPC hosts, facilitates, and stands behind this course because this work matters and because the people who do it deserve real preparation, real community, and a credential that reflects what they have genuinely learned to do.

Meet Your Guides

Margaret Jarrell

AMI MDDA Trainer 


Margaret Jarrell is an AMI Trainer for Montessori for Dementia, Disability and Aging and she teaches every live session in this course.

She trained directly under Jennifer Brush, spent ten years as a consultant with Brush Development, and has spent years since coaching educators and healthcare professionals in applying Montessori philosophy to enhance quality of life for older adults and people living with dementia.

What she brings to each live session is not theory. It is deep, practiced experience with this work.

Paige Krabill

Psy.D. 


Dr. Paige Krabill is a Clinical Psychologist and AMI-trained Montessori educator.

As Managing Member of the Montessori Care Partner Collaborative, she brings a clinical and developmental psychology lens that shapes how practitioners in this course understand behavior, communication, and the capacity of every person in their care.

Melissa Crenshaw

M.Ed. 


Melissa Crenshaw has spent over 20 years inside Montessori environments, from toddler communities to elder care settings.

As Founder of Community Casa Care Partner Services and Managing Member of MCPC, she brings the kind of grounded, cross-lifespan experience that only comes from having lived this work at every stage.

Jennifer Brush

Curriculum author. Co-author of Montessori for Elder and Dementia Care, Second Edition. 


Jennifer Brush built the curriculum at the foundation of this course. Her work and her textbook are foundational to everything practitioners engage with here.

Learn more at brushdevelopment.com

About the Montessori Care Partner Collaborative


The Montessori Care Partner Collaborative was founded on a simple belief: that Montessori principles belong across the full arc of human life.

MCPC hosts, facilitates, and stands behind this course because this work matters and because the people who do it deserve real preparation, real community, and a credential that reflects what they have genuinely learned to do.

Why This Course. Why These Guides.

  • The case studies are not an assignment. They are the practice. Most professional development asks practitioners to absorb and apply on their own. This course asks you to bring Montessori principles into a care setting, work with a person you know, document what unfolds, and bring that experience back to the cohort. The credential reflects what was actually practiced, not what was watched or read.
  • Margaret Jarrell teaches every live session. Not a guest appearance. Not a recording. An AMI trainer with deep experience in this work is present every month for six months. You bring your questions from the field. She responds from years of practice with exactly this kind of work.
  • Two experienced perspectives. One course. Melissa Crenshaw brings more than 20 years of Montessori practice across the full arc of human life. Dr. Krabill brings a clinical and developmental psychology lens that shapes how practitioners understand behavior, communication, and possibility. Together they offer something none of them could offer alone.
  • Community is part of the structure. Practitioners move through this course as a cohort, a group of people doing this work in different settings around the world. Sharing case studies, engaging in experiential activities, and putting what you learn into practice are the important anchors of this course. The connections that form over six months are something people do not always anticipate, and something they consistently name afterward.
  • This curriculum is rare. The curriculum was developed by Jennifer Brush of Brush Development. MCPC is one of the very few places offering it with live instruction, an AMI-recognized credential, and field work built into the structure.
JOIN THE WAITLIST FOR 2027

A Few More Things Worth Knowing

Still don't have the answers you were looking for?
Feel free to contact us at [email protected]

 

The Path Forward Is Here

If you came to the Orientation with a genuine sense of what is possible for the elders in your care, and if you have been looking for a way to bring that more fully into your practice, this course was built for that moment.

The Orientation offered a beginning. This is where the practice deepens, the field work begins, and the credential reflects what you have genuinely learned to do.

Join the waitlist for the January 1, 2027 cohort.

JOIN THE WAITLIST

Montessori for Dementia, Disability and Aging Practitioners Certification Course is a framework for care, not a clinical protocol. This course equips practitioners with principles and methods to support engagement, dignity, and quality of life. It does not diagnose, treat, or replace the medical guidance of the care teams practitioners work alongside.