??? About Greek

[Homeschooling6]

I am looking at using A Greek Alphabetarion: A Primer for Teaching How to Read, Write & Pronounce Ancient & Biblical Greek by Harvey Bludorn.

 

and A Greek Hupogrammon: A Beginner's Copybook for Greek Alphabet with Pronunciations also by Harvey Bludorn.

 

Do I need both of these? I would like to use this with my 8, 9 & 10 yr. olds this year.

 

Thank you,

[dragons in the flower bed]

I'm not sure about the ethics of copying and pasting someone's e-mail onto a message board, so please forgive me if I shouldn't have, PlaidDad.

 

But, Linda, he posted this on the LatinClassicalEd YahooGroup a few weeks ago:

 

In my opinion the Alphabetarion is far too detailed for beginners. The

goal at that stage is not to become an expert on the history of the

Greek alphabet or the ins and outs of scholarly debate on

pronunciation; it's to learn the alphabet as quickly as possible so

you can start studying the language. Harvey Bluedorn seems to be a

knowledgeable man, but he tends to try to pack every bit of what he

knows into the books he writes. This does not make for effective

pedagogy, imo, and can be a real stumbling block for beginners, as it

makes the material look much more complex than it actually is.

 

The Hupogrammon is great if you need a very slow introduction to the

alphabet and pronunciation, but honestly, I still think it's overkill

save for the very youngest children. The alphabet seems intimidating

at first, but it's really not that hard. Most kids can master it in a

week or two of daily practice. When I studied Greek, we were expected

to master it in one 90-minute class period - and we did. :)

 

-Drew

[Karenciavo]

The

goal at that stage is not to become an expert on the history of the

Greek alphabet or the ins and outs of scholarly debate on

pronunciation; it's to learn the alphabet as quickly as possible so

you can start studying the language. Harvey Bluedorn seems to be a

knowledgeable man, but he tends to try to pack every bit of what he

knows into the books he writes.

 

This is true, although I will say *I* really enjoyed learning all the background, debate, and obsolete letters, but my boys, 11 & 9 at the time, didn't retain much of it.

[TracyR]

I would give something Like " Hey , Andrew, Teach me some Greek " at their age level. Or the Elementary Greek and I saw on Rainbow resource something called Athenaze. I'm not familiar with that one though so I'm not sure how this program is. I know soon Classical Academic Press is coming out with Song School Greek. When though I'm not sure. I hope it is as good and enjoyable as their Latin program.

[Plaid Dad]

Usually it's not kosher to take posts from a private mailing list and make them public, but in this case you saved me the trouble of repeating myself. :)

[abbeyej]

... and I saw on Rainbow resource something called Athenaze. I'm not familiar with that one though so I'm not sure how this program is...

 

Athenaze teaches the Attic dialect and is a beginning text for adults. It's typically used in a college setting, though occasionally in high school classes (those rare schools that offer Attic Greek). I think in a home school setting, a committed high school student could manage with it, or even a younger student with a strong preparation...

 

But it's not for elementary students.

[Beth in Central TX]

I used (and will use again) The Greek Alphabetarion. It is a gentle and slow approach to learning how to say the Greek alphabet and how to write the Greek alphabet (upper and lower case). We started in 2nd & 3rd grade, so I thought GA was invaluable as an introduction to the Greek language. We moved into the Elementary Greek series after GA.

 

Even though the Greek Alphabetarion is not necessary to start Elem Greek I, it does build a firm foundation in Greek alphabet and phonics. EGI goes through the alphabet and sounds very quickly. My DH (our official Greek teacher) thinks that GA provides a better schedule to learn Greek phonics. Our boys are very adept at saying Greek words because of their exposure to GA. This has helped in EG when they encounter new words and when they read Greek out loud. It really helps to be able to say the words out loud (or in your head) when you are translating.

 

A Greek Hupogrammon was not available when we started GA, so I didn't use this resource. I do the Chrestomathy at the end of GA as part of our Greek copywork.

 

HTH!

[HollyDay]

Hey Andrew is working great for us.

[TracyR]

Athenaze teaches the Attic dialect and is a beginning text for adults. It's typically used in a college setting, though occasionally in high school classes (those rare schools that offer Attic Greek). I think in a home school setting, a committed high school student could manage with it, or even a younger student with a strong preparation...

 

But it's not for elementary students.

 

 

Ahh. Okay. They didn't have a review of it on their website so I didn't know about Athenaze.

 

We'll be giving , Hey Andrew a try. It looks like a gentle approach to learning Greek.