If you love Google, thank Dr. Maria Montessori.

In a recent interview with Barbara Walters, Google.com founders Larry Page and Sergy Brin credited their Montessori upbringing for giving them the curious, self-starter attitudes that inspired creation of the popular Internet search engine.

Since going public with Google last year, each is now worth an estimated $6 billion. But the lifelong friends still live relatively modest, humble lives - something else inspired by Montessori's radical approach to early childhood education, said Margaret Sisson, founder of the 13-year-old Fayette Montessori School.

Giving children the freedom to explore their own interests at a reasonable pace is the foundation on which Montessori based her method, said Sisson.

"Teaching isn't a group thing," Sisson explained. "Montessori helps children to become independent, self-confident, and learn to make their own decisions."

Students are exposed to the same academic subjects, Sisson said, but decide on their own when and in what way they will master the skills - an approach that flies in the face of traditional schooling.

Nearly 100 years after the Italian physician introduced the world to her theories, many Americans are abandoning false notions about Montessori schools - that they are only for undisciplined, gifted or special-needs children, for example, or that Montessori teachers are all members of some new-age cult.

Sisson's school has grown steadily since it opened in 1992, and now enrolls about 125 kids in a neat, compact campus on Weatherly Way off Ga. Highway 54 East in Fayetteville.

From the beginning, Sisson had room for children as young as 18 months to about age 8, or the equivalent skill level of a third grader.

After that, however, many parents had little choice but to enroll their children in more traditional public or private schools, which often was an awkward transition, said Sisson, whose own children attend a Fayette County public high school.

With the increased awareness and acceptance of Montessori among the mainstream, and the general growth in the community, the demand to add age levels is finally here, Sisson said.

Fortunately, so is the room.

Last year, Sisson bought an adjacent warehouse and office building from a local commercial builder, who renovated it into a gym and classroom space for 25 more students, ages 9 to 12 years. The school also built a new soccer field, directly behind Ace Hardware.

The expansion will allow current Fayette Montessori students to stay through at least 6th grade, Sisson points out. Already, the parents of a number of rising students have signed up for next year, she boasted, and a several more who aged out over the past two years plan to come back.

"A lot of our families wanted to stay with Montessori but couldn't," she said. "Once parents see what a great thing it is, they want to come