Montessori and the Circle of Life

If you had thought that the Montessori way was only for children, think again. Montessori materials have found extensive use in the care of ageing seniors and dementia patients. Intrigued? Well, in many Western countries after much experimentation with a variety of theories, doctors and people engaged in geriatric care have found that primary Montessori materials are most useful in helping elders residing in senior homes live an abundant life.

It has always been a challenging task for caregivers to engage patients with dementia or any old-age related issues. Whatever help is given, elders feel discontent and irritated on having to depend on someone and caregivers are tired and on the verge of losing their patience owing to the litany of complaints despite their best efforts. Many senior homes and hospice centres have sprung up to address this tug-of-war between the two.

However, seniors continue to complain about feeling helpless, dependent and relegated to the care of some unknown aide in these places while caregivers lament over their lack of time, energy and space to focus on ailing elders. To address this problem, senior homes are exploring the Montessori way of life for their inmates. It has come to light that Montessori activities for primary children have a greater impact on seniors too, helping them to lead an independent life.

Montessori philosophy revolves around fostering independence and helping children create their individuality. And this precisely is what most elders want too. After years of being in control of their lives and that of their family, it is hard for these folks to grasp the idea of being pushed into a corner by some disease or debilitation, over which they have no control and to depend on others for their daily needs. This often leads to depression, irritation and discontentment with life.

But there is help for these people from Montessori practices and materials. Working with Montessori primary materials such as cylinder blocks, sound games, nomenclature cards, etc. have been found to be useful to boost the memory and motor skills of many dementia patients. The underlying principles of repetition are applied to help these patients remember and gain motor control and let them do activities that they enjoy the most. Montessori activities such as washing and folding clothes, arranging flowers, setting up a table, pouring water, singing songs, etc. have also turned out to be a boon for many patients fostering independence and self-esteem. The logic of a prepared environment to have materials at an accessible height and in their scheduled places help seniors to go about living their life independently. This seems to have created a vast improvement in the confidence and countenance of many old folks.

How beautiful it is to note that what served as an aid to 3-6-year-old children is also helping 70-year olds and above to improve their quality of life in later years! Doesn’t it all come back to the logic of 'The Circle of Life'? What once people enjoyed as children are the ones they find pleasure in as they get old.

I never thought that studying Montessori would make me ponder the philosophy of life. But these kinds of application of the philosophy does make me wonder. We all come back to end our lives at the point where we started: As a speck of the cosmic dust in the universe. And all that we can hope to leave behind is only energy in the form of love! I am reminded of Rumi’s words:

With life as short as half-taken breath, don’t plant anything but love!