Latin?

[Quiver0f10]

Have you used Latin with your dyslexic child? My 13 year old is reading ok now, but spelling still isn't great. I am considering adding Latin but I don't know. Any opinions?

[GoVanGogh]

Good question! I would love to hear what others have done.

 

We have studied Latin since the beginning, but I put it aside whenever things get rough. We recently restarted it, but I am so worried that it is only confusing my DS. We can drop Latin for three months, though, and DS will pick it back up like it was only a day missed. DS recently said, "Latin? That is part of school? I don't consider it school because it is so much fun." So I guess we will continue to plod along with Latin and I only hope it isn't complicating things for DS.

 

We started with Minimus, which is a fun way to introduce the language. We are now almost finished with "Getting started with Latin." I love the format. I write everything out for DS on the whiteboard and in the book, and he draws pictures to go along with the sentences on the whiteboard. We will be moving on to First Form Latin in a week or so.

[Faithr]

I think learning Latin helped my kids with spelling. In fact I approached spelling as keys to understanding from what language the word originally comes from. English is a mish mash of lots of Latin via old French and Germanic via Old English plus a bunch of other words thrown in for good measure. We did English from the Roots up in a fun informal way and I read them a very helpful book on English roots. I think all this helped them understand spelling rules in an historical sense, so recognizing patterns and rules was an intellectual exercise rather than just a visual or rule memory exercise. So I think Latin raises " word awareness" and was beneficial. Though I do think the very best way to learn to spell is to write a lot.