Why teach Latin to my 3rd graders next year?

[Mom to 3+1]

I am seriously thinking about teaching Latin to my 3rd graders next year, but I need to fully understand WHY? Please share with me why you teach Latin to your kids. My thought is that it will help teach spelling (root words and pre/suffix), grammar and vocabulary (base words) as well as set them up for learning another language in a couple of years. I have never studied Latin, am I placing too many expectations on Latin? I like the looks of Lively Latin the most, btw. also, btw, I am not planning on teaching a separate grammar rogram (Writing Tales 1 is on my for sure list though).

 

thanks for your thoughts.. Laura

[Mama Lynx]

No, you are not putting too much expectation onto Latin :)

 

I teach Latin for many, many reasons: As you listed, it helps with vocabulary. It certainly helps with grammar, and will help to learn other languages down the road. The way I teach Latin, it also helps my children learn logic and attention to detail.

 

Plus, they are continuing a tradition of education that is thousands of years old. By learning Latin, they learn about the foundation of Western thought, ideas and history.

 

And it's fun :) It's also hard. My kids have a real sense of accomplishment when they do well in Latin,.

[Trivium Academy]

Lol, :smilielol5: Okay bad joke. :thumbdown:

 

Cheryl Lowe's article was a powerful motivator for Latin, Latin After Phonics

Also there are programs that are fun and easy for the lower grades like Lively Latin (don't know anything about it other than what the website says) and Prima Latina. Btw, my dd7 thinks Prima Latina is fun :001_huh:

 

We're studying latin for the mental discipline, roots/vocabulary, and to help us with our other foreign language studies. Don't forget, foreign languages are best taught to the young before they learn to overwhelm themselves with unnecessary thoughts about what they are learning. Sigh. :001_rolleyes:

 

That is not to say you cannot wait until they are older, I'm not one to say either is better than the other, it really depends on your child. My dd7 wants to learn French, Spanish and Latin all at once, :eek: That isn't going to happen in THIS house, oh my. I know others say that they study latin for grammar, I don't really care about that. Don't get me wrong, it's nice that it is included but it isn't my main goal for studying Latin.

 

It's individual as everything in life is regarding decisions. I bought all the components of Prima Latina in 1st grade thinking we'd start it at the beginning of 2nd grade. That didn't happen but dd7 was able to see the materials and even though she said she liked them then, I put it off b/c I was scared. Prima Latina is easy and we'll take it one step at a time after this.

 

Hope this helps

[Jenny in Atl]

You really do begin to see how much Latin adds, even after a short while. My 2nd grader is doing LL, and she is noticing Latin roots all over the place. Dd12 and I are LP together, and honestly, it is reinforcing the grammar we are learning through CW/AG, painting a larger vivid picture. It's more than worth it!

[st_claire]

I like Latin cause its a fun language.

 

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

'Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.'

 

You can use it to talk secretly together, you can read mottos on old buildings, you can roleplay Romans. So much fun :)

[Beth in Central TX]

I like this article by Cheryl Lowe to explain the "Whys" of Latin: http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/whylatin.html

[Amy from WT]

You've got the basics of "Why" to study Latin down pat. Vocabulary, grammar, a good basis for language later on. But I think it's really hard to BELIEVE in it until you just dive in and see it working!

 

I call Latin "Brain Food."

 

Yes, it's wonderful for reinforcing English grammar. (BTW, I actually don't love it for teaching English grammar. I prefer to have the English grammar taught first, and then to have the students see the English grammar reinforced through their Latin study.)

 

Yes, it's TERRIFIC for learning English vocabulary. AND German vocabulary, AND vocabulary from a dozen other languages out there at least! Invaluable for that alone. Study Latin early, and your child will raise his or her SAT scores in years to come without even knowing why!

 

Yes, it's great as a foundation for learning other languages. Several reasons why here...first of all, as I explained above, if you know those Latin roots, you've got a leg up on learning vocabulary from many other languages right away. Second, my goodness - Latin is hard! Once you've reached a certain level in Latin, any other language seems easy by comparison! Not only that, if you understand conjugating a verb in Latin, you'll understand how to manipulate verbs in German or French....and so forth.

 

But another reason that I've noticed as I've watched my co-op students learn Latin over the past few years? I think Latin is great for their THINKING SKILLS. When you are asked to translate a Latin sentence, you are given a task that involves thinking about dozens of small details, and then pulling them all together into one cohesive sentence. What vocabulary do you need? For each noun, what gender is it, and if it has an adjective, how will you make it match? What case will it go into, dependent upon what job it is doing in the sentence? How about the verbs - what person should the ending be in, and what tense? And all of that is affected by the conjugation...is it 1st, 2nd, or 3rd conjugation! Ask any student to think about dozens of details like that on a regular basis and you are stretching their brain in a very very good way.

 

So there you have it. I truly do think Latin makes one smarter! And I'm finally very glad that my mom went to the school board in my town, years ago when I was in 7th grade, and convinced them to add Latin to our school curriculum. I was horribly embarassed back then! But what a gift she left me with. I didn't start Latin until 8th grade. My children start learning Latin vocabulary, Latin noun and verb chants, and Latin songs and poems from the 2nd grade on. If they don't want to continue Latin grammar after 8th or 9th grade, I allow them to choose another language at that point.

 

I had the gift of a Latin background. But many others don't have that, and if not, whatever Latin you are able to get into your child will reap rewards!

[Plaid Dad]

Here are my two cents - or ten cents - on the topic. This doesn't so much address "why third grade." For that, go here.

 

SWB has a discussion of the practical "whys" in TWTM as well. Just check the Latin chapter. :)

[Beth in SW WA]

 

And it's fun :) It's also hard. My kids have a real sense of accomplishment when they do well in Latin,.

 

AMEN! Latin is mental gymnastics -- also a great self-confidence builder! My dc know that learning Latin *well* will help train their brains for future study in whatever they set their hearts or minds too. Anything seems easier than Latin (well, almost anything) :)

[frogpond1]

and still is at the age of loving to memorize and chant, and a third grader can learn Latin so much easier than a parent! I have a lot of fun teaching Latin to my kids. That aside, it teaches them how to study, it is great handwriting practice, it deals with words in an amazing way- teaching derivatives and the idea of "person" and "singular and plural." It is exciting for a child to play with another language. I remember my daughter making up little stories in Latin when she was little. I think I still have them in her file.

 

I teach Latin in 3rd grade because it really helps later on in upper grades if you want to continue on in Latin.

[pixelroper]

helps with: other foreign languages, vocab in general, realizing that language (and everything else!) has a history & roots, practice for skills (such as memorization, handwriting, spelling, etc.)

 

why third grade: memorization is easy at this age- it really is astounding how easy grammar stage children can memorize, as I learn along with dd, memorizing is all MY problem. So the daily recitation is more for my benefit than dd.:)

 

I was intimidated at first (many parents are), as I've dabbled in Latin for years trying to learn it on my own without much success, Memoria Press has great programs. This is one of our fun subjects.