I have been educating myself more on Charlotte Mason techniques. For years, I understood her philosophy, but only now am I studying with a large group of homeschooling mamas, her techniques and methodology.
One big success in our homeschool is *narration*. I read a short amount of info from a book, and the kids 'narrate' it back to me. This is not parroting, but rather allowing the children time to listen, integrate, then speak aloud what they have just heard. And as you know, children do not always hear what we thought we just said!
But that is just what narrating is for. Children DO hear different things from the same story. This is how they learn. We cannot say it is wrong or right for a child to hear what she heard. Nor is it our job to interpret for them, when they are processing the information in thier own brains, filtering it through their experiences, revamping it with their own souls and speaking it right out with their sweet voices.
Needless to say, narration Charlotte Mason style, can be very different from child to child, age to age.
When I read ancient history (we use Story of the World as a core) the children's narrations are far more factual, with only a little room for interpretation. When I read a story, or current events, etc, there is MUCH more interpretation and contemplation about the material being learned. This is a nice mix.
I will add more about Charlotte Mason narration later, as we become more practiced and as the children teach me how to get better at it.
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