Hi Gloria,
Just in case there are no montessori teachers on this board, may I suggest this yahoogroup sponsored by the Montessori Foundation:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/montessori_online/.
Also, the foundation has a downloadable introduction to Montessori:
http://www.montessori.org/sitefiles/Montessori_101_nonprintable.pdf.
I agree with laughingwater about visiting the Montessori schools in your area and asking them your questions as you may find that each school is different. I went to a Montessori school for three years and now that I have a son who is ready for preschool I have learned a lot/understood more about the Montessori way (through reading books) but I still need to visit the school and bring my son along to make sure that they match (their approach and how my son learns) and that I know each school's policy as to how a child qualifies for advancement to the next level, etc.
Goodluck.