So...when did YOU decide to drop Latin?

[Melissa in CA]

I can't for the life of me get Latin done. We are halfway through the year and have completed only three chapters. I'm beginning to think it's time to call it quits for good. It's just not a priority, and I don't know how to make myself MAKE it one. :confused:

[SonshineLearner]

You realize it's a program best done with others:-) You pick friends, a day and time, and you plug on?? Well... that's my take :)

[Jackie in AR]

I solved our problem by utilizing an online class. My guys like the class, and are enjoying learning the language.

[Corraleno]

We dropped Latin after I ordered 2 years of Minimus, both my kids cried about having to do it (DS is dyslexic, DD wanted to do Spanish and Mandarin instead), and DH (who spent 4 torturous years studying Latin in school) sided with the kids. So basically we dropped it after about ... 3 lessons.

 

We're really enjoying Spanish, though!

 

Jackie

[Blossom'sGirl]

I am seriously considering it. Our day is just so long and many colleges don't recognize Latin as a foreign language requirement anyway. If ds was into it, I would continue but I feel as if our days are getting too long already.

 

If we do Latin next year, it will probably be more conversational style like Cambridge Latin. We have been working on Lively Latin 1 for almost 2 years and I am sick of it.

[Crimson Wife]

We haven't started Latin yet, but I would consider dropping it if I tried several different programs and they were all a bust. I would then do word roots study only. The key thing I'm hoping to get out of my dc studying Latin is a boost in vocabulary.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Crimson Wife
clarified ambiguous wording

[yvonne]

I wasn't getting to it either, so I signed them up for an online class. It's great!

[FloridaLisa]

First, is it a huge priority for you? If so, why? I think we usually get to those things that are a priority. Of course, the one reason I may not teach something that I consider a huge priority is because 1) I'm daunted by the subject or 2) I haven't found curriculum or materials that make the teaching any easier or 3) I'm completely uninterested in learning about/teaching the subject, even though I know it's a must for my kids!

 

Does any of this sound familiar? If, after evaluating, you consider it important, think about why it's not getting done. Would a curriuclum change help? Would outsourcing help? Would accountability help--i.e. meeting with friends? Would a change of schedule help?

 

I've decided that Latin is a priority for my dc. I floundered a bit with Latina Christiana (yawn) but have really hit my teaching stride with Lively Latin. Primarily because it's pick up and go. If after evaluating what you want for your dc, you feel it's not a priority, then I wouldn't feel bad one bit for dropping it.

 

HTH,

Lisa

[Mejane]

We did Latina Christiana for a year, then switched to Cambridge. My kids (11 and 14 at the time) enjoyed the method and the story, but we dropped it after a year in favor of just studying roots. We may go back to it someday.

 

As an aside, I've discovered that some colleges will not count Latin as a foreign language; they now stipulate "modern" languages.

[Melissa in CA]

You know, I really should focus on my son learning Spanish. Living in CA it would come in quite handy someday, and my son likes it. He took a year of BJU's Elementary Spanish when it was available on their HomeSat satellite...and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately they discontinued it.

 

Being on this board, I think one gets a bit brainwashed in thinking you are doing your dc a disservice if you are not teaching them Latin (or Greek). I think I'm kind of brainwashed a smidge. :lol: Which is probably why I start and never finish any Latin programs. I'm brainwashed enough to think I should start, but it's not enough of a priority to finish. Talk about setting ones self up for failure! :lol:

 

I CAN see how learning Latin is good though and my oldest ds has said that the little bit he learned in highschool has helped him tremendously in his nursing science classes. Honestly though, my oldest ds would be MUCH better off knowing Spanish as a nurse in California, than the little bit of Latin he learned. He is at a disadvantage working in the health care field and NOT knowing Spanish. :tongue_smilie: Had I only known when he was in highschool what career he was going to choose...:001_huh:

 

So, in reevaluating our studies, I am thinking my youngest ds should probably study Spanish, along with some kind of Latin roots program.

 

So...anyone know of a good Spanish program?

[3byzaz]

This year!! We slugged through 6 chapters and then I just couldn't find the time, energy or desire to figure out the teaching notes to me...and we got stuck. I am planning on doing English From the Roots Up this summer and into next fall. Then, it's Spanish for us. We are in AZ and it will be very helpful - I would love for my boys to really be able to speak it. But, I had 4 years and never really could...

 

Yes, what is a good Spanish program??

[Ester Maria]

Latin is like Maths in our home - am I going to drop Maths out of curriculum because Giuditta finds it boring, and because I cannot force myself, or her, to study it? Of course not; I might indulge her a little and allow her not to study all the fancy high level stuff her sister is studying, but I am not going to rule out an entire field of academics just to indulge her. A systematic education HAS to be something more than a sum of fits, and not in the craziest of my moods would I allow Latin to be dropped.

 

No, I don't think everyone needs to study Latin. We're talking about a specific kind of cultural heritage here - not everyone needs to keep it, and out of those who do, not everyone needs to do it on the highest level as the highest priority in their education. But for us, it's an integral part of education just like Maths. :)

[creekmom]

I wasn't getting to it either, so I signed them up for an online class. It's great!

 

Which online class?

[Melissa in CA]

Latin is like Maths in our home - am I going to drop Maths out of curriculum because Giuditta finds it boring, and because I cannot force myself, or her, to study it? Of course not; I might indulge her a little and allow her not to study all the fancy high level stuff her sister is studying, but I am not going to rule out an entire field of academics just to indulge her. A systematic education HAS to be something more than a sum of fits, and not in the craziest of my moods would I allow Latin to be dropped.

 

No, I don't think everyone needs to study Latin. We're talking about a specific kind of cultural heritage here - not everyone needs to keep it, and out of those who do, not everyone needs to do it on the highest level as the highest priority in their education. But for us, it's an integral part of education just like Maths. :)

 

See, now I've heard that. That for many Latin is like Math, not something you would let slip or be dropped from your daily curriculum. I have tried to adopt that mentality...but quite frankly Latin is not like math. My ds can go through his whole entire life quite well and get an excellent degree in...something besides Latin :lol:...without having studied Latin. Whereas math on the other hand is integral to almost any degree. Just to get a basic AA at our community college one has to pass College level Algebra. So, though I WANT to view Latin as being as important as math, my subconscious somehow knows differently. ;)

 

I do know what you mean though. To you Latin is very, very important and not something you consider optional. I get that. And I WISH I could feel that way, because I do see the advantages in learning it, but I just don't. I've tried for years now to be the classically classical homeschooler...but, I guess it's just not the real me. :D

[Melissa in CA]

Latin is like Maths in our home - am I going to drop Maths out of curriculum because Giuditta finds it boring, and because I cannot force myself, or her, to study it? Of course not; I might indulge her a little and allow her not to study all the fancy high level stuff her sister is studying, but I am not going to rule out an entire field of academics just to indulge her. A systematic education HAS to be something more than a sum of fits, and not in the craziest of my moods would I allow Latin to be dropped.

 

I just wanted to add that what you wrote above really does sound quite...well...snobby. :lol: ;)

[Guest Barb B]

We dropped about 2 months into it. I decided that spanish was more important. For us - latin is not like math. Don't get me wrong - I think it is great some can do it - its just not for us. So - we do spanish (I couldn't ever see doing both). My brain and our day couldn't handle both. Also, some colleges don't look at latin as a foreign language - so I felt we needed the spanish for that. I try after a certain age to have the kids do a latin and greek roots workbook. That's enough for us.

 

"But for us, it's an integral part of education just like Maths" Quote of Ester Maria - well said! That is what I love about homeschooling! What fits one family doesn't fit another. We need to be reminded at times that the beauty of the homeschool community is our diversity!

 

Barb

Edited March 15, 2010 by Barb B

[5forMe]

yeah....which online class?

[robsiew]

We are doing Latin for the first time this year. Only with my ds9. I won't start them until 3rd grade... and I'm only going to "require" them to do probably through First Form (I'm using Prima Latina). After that, if they want I would provide the opportunity for more, but really for us, it's just to provide a strong basis in vocab. My ds likes it (even Prima, which I find boring) so we'll continue. It's not a huge part of our curriculum... it takes very little time, but it does get done. Fast, simple to the point.... enough to give my little guy "ah ha's" when he reads something and can see it is a Latin derivative. He and I are weird like that and love that kind of stuff! If it wasn't working... I'd drop it. There's enough other things to "require"... Latin is not one of them for us... to each his own....

 

However, I do have to say... I'm going to start ds on Spanish in 5th grade and I really think he'll have a little head start after studying some Latin... hoping anyway! ;-)

[Susie in CA]

When I realized that we needed to focus on more math.

 

Susie

[abbeyej]

Find another family or two to bring their kids to do Latin with you once a week. Once you're teaching a "class", you can't let it slide.

 

Really, I think Latin is very important, and the more we do, the more important I think it is.

[Verity]

At this point we are still loving Latin (started in August last year) - I have a pick up and go curriculum and I'm learning it alongside my eldest. Every chapter I find interesting becuase of the derivative study - I love being able to understand and explain to my 11 year old the words we use in English and where they come from. Granted I'm a english/literature lover and love history so the two together make me wish I could have learned Latin earlier.

Also, I had two years of Spanish in high school and so much of the latin reminds me of what I (kinda) learned then. I think after a few years of Latin that picking up a romance language will be extremely easy.

 

If we quit it will be because we just can't understand any more and my child begins to loathe it - until then we are sticking with it!

[Ester Maria]

...but quite frankly Latin is not like math. My ds can go through his whole entire life quite well and get an excellent degree in...something besides Latin :lol:...without having studied Latin. Whereas math on the other hand is integral to almost any degree. Just to get a basic AA at our community college one has to pass College level Algebra.

Perhaps, but see, here we have a clash of perspectives more than simply a disagreement. I don't view education simply as getting equipped with an amount of useful knowledge and skills that you'll profit from some day in your field - but, largely, as a transmission of cultural heritage. To me - and you have to keep in mind that we're Italians - Latin is an integral, anzi, an essential part of our cultural heritage. It's impossible for me to have the same kind of relationship with Latin as with many other things we study, thus the emphasis.

 

And that's why I said, I don't expect everyone to study Latin, or consider it an integral part of their cultural heritage - and even those who do, I don't expect them all to aim the highest with Latin, or to make it their top priority in schooling. So I get you, I get why it might be not only non-essential, but also unimportant for somebody else and their specific cultural background. I'm just saying that in our situation, it's as non-negotiable as Maths is.

 

And technically speaking, you also don't really "need" Maths past elementary level in everyday life, unless you study a field related to it, and there are plenty of fields completely unrelated to it (even though I admit that even in most social sciences a Statistics exam is a part of degree). Personally I studied Maths up to the equivalent of calculus in high school (approximately), and then I entered university and didn't really have any touch with any Maths past elementary everyday life, ever, and I'm only getting back in touch with it as my daughters get older. I really never needed it, AND I attended a school which explicitly defined itself as a classical high school (as opposed to the scientific high school, or artistic one - we have different types there), yet I don't think Maths was unnecessary even though it was clear and well known that the emphasis in that type of schools is on classics and humanities.

 

Ironically, the greatest emphasis on Latin after classical high school is in the scientific type. The kids who get the most Maths, Physics and alike are also burdened with heavy Latin through the entire high school. :D The reason? Cultural heritage.

And I WISH I could feel that way, because I do see the advantages in learning it, but I just don't. I've tried for years now to be the classically classical homeschooler...but, I guess it's just not the real me. :D

And that's okay. We don't need to have the same priorities. We come from different backgrounds and cultures. It's normal that we won't consider all things equally important to us.

 

Don't force yourself to be something you're not. There ARE people like me who will keep Latin being studied. But it doesn't mean everyone needs to do it.

I just wanted to add that what you wrote above really does sound quite...well...snobby. :lol: ;)

I'm known for phrasing things the snobby way. :lol: In my defense, that's usually a result of three things - not being a native speaker, being pregnant and thus moddy, and having your typical Italian temper with which you always sound more fiery, more angry, more emotional about something and more snobby than you actually are. ;) Sorry.

 

I guess you got the point anyway: I have a systematic approach to the core elements of our curriculum, and those are non-negotiable if some kid has a fit about not studying something. We CAN indulge a little about some things, and we CAN make compromises within each field about what to study, but I'm not dropping the subject if somebody doesn't feel like doing it (if I had a child who really struggled and couldn't cognitively deal with a subject, of course, that would be a different story). I've had that situation lots of times and had I dropped something every time somebody didn't feel like doing something, I'm not sure what we WOULD study now. :D

 

Latin is tough, there WILL be hard times for nearly anyone studying it. It's not necessarily a reason to give it up altogether, especially if you do consider it an important link in your cultural heritage. In that case, it might be worth the struggle and worth going through a crisis or two. (Back in my high school days most of my class had at least one minor nervous breakdown because of Latin at some point - me included. But if you look at the big picture, it was well worth it.) That's basically my point - don't give it up if it's important. If it's not then it's a different story.

[HappyGrace]

We did Minimus, then found out we needed a parts to whole instead, switched to LL-too overwhelming for us with the history and all. (Great program though!) Found our groove with LFC and did A and most of B. Then as we kept going in B, I realized all the endless declensions, etc., were not getting us where I wanted to go for all the time (almost an hour a day) that it was taking us.

 

I understand and have read all the reasons for doing Latin. I believe they are good reasons. I own a copy of LCC-love it. For a long time, I think I was kind of brainwashed that we "had" to do Latin to have a good education. But it comes down to just wanting to spend time on other things than declensions and so on. I think a good solid roots study over several years will be sufficient for us for Latin. Spanish will be a more practical choice all around for our family, starting maybe in 6th grade.

 

And btw, since we've dropped it, we're all relieved! We were fine doing it; didn't hate it, kind of even liked it, but it was a relief to free up time for other educational pursuits! We're enjoying the extra time-meandering through and digging deeply into MCT, etc. Lots more time for Socratic discussion, hands-on, etc., in other subjects.

Edited March 16, 2010 by HappyGrace

[Karenciavo]

Do it first thing and it will get done.