Can we talk about Latin?

[susancollins]

I haven't researched alot about Latin lately but I am wondering what age should I start? I know Latin is said to be a lost language and teaches the roots and meanings of words. What programs do you recommend? Thanks for any suggestions and advice.

[NaturalFamiLEA]

We are using Song School Latin by Classical Academic Press (http://classicalacademicpress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_12&products_id=5).

 

My daughter is 6, and we are enjoying it. My 2yo son also enjoys dancing to the songs :)

[angela in ohio]

Hi Susan,

 

I had Latin in high school, and I feel it has been such a huge benefit that I was adamant that my dc learn it, and I also encourage others to teach it!

 

Here's the list of reasons I give students when I teach Latin, though you can Google or search these boards for other good lists as well:

 

Why Learn Latin??

 

• English vocabulary – 60% of all words are influenced by Latin either directly or indirectly (Norman French), but 90% of all words over 2 syllables are Latin (“big†words)
  
• Cultural literacy – Latin phrases
  
• Learn structure of English language and grammar
  
• Improve thinking skills - organized thinking, attention to detail, memory
  
• Read history and literature in the original language (especially poetry)
  
• Professions: Law, Medicine, Writing, Science, Technology, History
  
• Easier to learn other languages – inflected (German, Russian) or Romance (French, Italian, Spanish); 75-80% of French, Spanish, and Italian are Latin words
  
• Higher test scores (vocabulary, logic, grammar) – 1997 SAT scores: Latin students scored 142 points higher than average
  

 

Here's a post that I made about teaching Latin without a curriculum in the elementary years, which is what I recommend, though I have used many Latin programs over the years teaching various classes. If I had to pick a curriculum to teach with now, I'd choose Latin for Children by Classical Academic Press.

 

I would start memorizing Latin chants at a young age (Kindergarten or so,) as young children think they are fun, have more time available, and can retain them easily. I save written Latin work for after a child is reading and writing well and finished with phonics, so about 3rd grade. Many programs start about then.

[Laura Corin]

How old are your children? I recommend learning a living language first, when young children are very open to language learning and can absorb accent well. I start Latin seriously at age 9 or 10, using Latin Prep, from Galore Park.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Ester Maria]

I recommend 4th-5th grade, and a solid grounding in a modern foreign language of your choice before that.

 

It's not what I did with my daughters, though, but my "default" advice unless somebody elaborates on a more complex language situation (a polyglot family, native speakers of Romance languages, etc.) is to start Latin around that age, since that seems to be the age of optimal results (you end up studying Latin long enough to actually get somewhere, if you do it properly; and earlier start is unnecessary unless you literally want your children to grow up with Latin, since what you would have gone through before can be squeezed in a month of the 5th grade).

 

I also recommend a strong grammatical course, and I recommend staying faaaaaaar away from anything "colorful and cute". Those entertain, but don't really teach. I also recommend staying away from various variations of the so-called "natural method" and studying the language analytically.

[Rosie_0801]

That really depends what your goals for Latin are, and what you are doing with modern languages.

 

I will be starting my kiddies off with Arabic at Saturday School in grade one. I'd like to use the grammar stage years to build their Latin vocabulary in a relaxed sort of way, while they work on their English grammar. It's usually considered best to leave a gap between starting new languages, so I could either start the kids on Latin either the year before or the year after they start Arabic. Dh has a thing for Latin, and I think it is a bad idea to waste a dad guy's enthusiasm, so we'll start it before the Arabic, with School Song Latin. We have Minimus for afterwards, and we'll use Angela in Ohio's info which she linked in her post.

 

When the kids get to logic stage and have their heads wrapped around English grammar, I think they'll be right to get into a serious Latin study. When they are done with that, I hope they'll move to reading, and start French. There's no way we could do French and Arabic in the junior years, but Latin and Arabic seems workable. The Latin should provide a strong foundation for the French, so they (and me too if necessary :001_huh:) will be able to get stuck into it faster than if they hadn't had a Latin foundation. Or that's what I think now, before we've done any of it!

 

:)

Rosie