Yup!
I'm not a 100% CM-er, but I'm not 100% anything-er lol... we're inspired by CM, by Montessori, by Waldorf, by unschooling, by Classical Education, a little bit of everything lol...
What I really got from reading about CM which changed my attitudes to education, is the idea of the student responding in certain ways ("narration" in CM terms) rather than by worksheets. And the wide variety of narration options available, such as drawing rather than writing.
My son was a 'reluctant writer' and I used to see this as a big problem, because if you can't write well, you can't do most curriculum! Then I learned that we could adapt his responses to suit his own needs.. when he started DRAWING his lessons instead of having to write them, it made all the difference in the world.
I know that might actually surprise folks who have just a passing knowledge of CM, since it's well-known for copywork and dictation... lots of writing stuff! But in reality, those are intended to be very short, just as much as the child can handle, and it isn't done until they're a certain age... and those are not the method of learning OVERALL. The CM overall philosophy of learning, to me, is read/experience --> absorb --> respond. And the 'response' can be in whatever manner best suits the student. The copywork and dictation is merely the CM approach to handwriting, language, grammar, spelling, etc -- very important, of course, but not how they learn science!
We also like the idea of short lessons and nature study. In fact, when you really get into the details and the intentions behind them, there's a LOT of overlap between CM and Waldorf. Just that CM kind of has the aura of "prim and proper" Victorian correctness and 'habit training', while Waldorf has the aura of pagan nature-worship spirituality. Neither aura is completely accurate of course, but there's a tidbit of truth behind them. My point is just that despite those external differences, the actual methodologies are very, very similar.
CM *clicks* with me, feels natural and whole, like the way I wish I had been taught/raised. Love it.
