My son was in montessori for 6 months and it was so one on one that we pulled him out. He was regressing back into wanting us to do everything for him at 3.5 years old. I also don't know much about montessori but thought it was supposed to be very self directed, yet this was not how the one here where I live was run. Took us a few weeks to get our son back to the level of independence he was at before he began there.
As for the little one...I agree with everyone else. The "I don't know how..." is just a ploy to get your undivided attention on her.