You have heard of it, you've seen it, and maybe your kids are even enrolled in it, but what do you really know about Montessori?

Intrepid reporter that I am, I know one thing. This individualistic approach to schooling turns 100 this month. With a push from my boss, I decided to explore this teaching phenomenon in a story. Is Montessori even alternative anymore? Or has mainstream education absorbed the dream of its Italian founder, Dr. Maria Montessori.

(Maria was one cool cat, breaking down barriers for women at Italian medical schools, helping the poor and getting nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. The Nazis even burned her in effigy.)

I won't attempt to offer a comprehensive explanation of Montessori, but it seems to revolve around letting kids determine what and where they will study. Or, as the Montessori Centenary website says, it "allows them to respond to the inner call of specific 'sensitivities' and gives them the freedom to act in accordance with their innate human tendencies," the Centenary of the Montessori Movement reports.

Far from an organized and solitary vision, the Montessori movement evolved from an experience when Maria Montessori created a program to occupy children who were tearing up new buildings while their parents worked, according to the 2007 Centenary of the Montessori Movement.
Montessori built a program for them, and the rest followed.

"I did not invent a method of education, I simply gave some little children a chance to live," Montessori once said.

Whatever it is, Montessori is still popular with parents and alumni, with 6,000 to 8,000 schools, the American Montessori Society says.

What do you think? The Seattle Public Schools offers this approach in two schools. Are you looking at Montessori programs, enrolling your kids in one, or perhaps ignoring this track? Send me your comments or post your thoughts on the blog.