Anyone Think Latin Isn't Worth It?

[CrunchyGirl]

I've been reading through the Latin threads and of course it all sounds so awesome. But I was talking to DH (who isn't exactly convinced) and it got me thinking...for those of you who have done Latin, does anyone feel it wasn't worth it? It is a sizable time investment and I suppose trade offs have to be made (less time on other subjects, etc.). I guess I'm just curious if anyone regrets the time they spent on Latin?

[Samiam]

Nope. My DS14 did three years of Latin while homeschooling, and started 9th grade in a public school this past fall. Just finished the first year of high school Spanish with a 97, having no prior Spanish. He said he felt as if he knew alot of the Spanish words, recognized many "endings" from Latin. No regrets :).

[Guest NativeCalGal]

As I've been learning Latin alongside my children, I regret not learning Latin in *my* younger days when I could have. It would have been SO HELPFUL in soooooo many different subjects.

[Laura Corin]

I don't regret doing Latin, but I wouldn't have done it instead of a modern foreign language. We did both, but I would advise starting an MFL early and adding in Latin later.

 

L

[Elfknitter.#]

I don't regret doing Latin, but I wouldn't have done it instead of a modern foreign language. We did both, but I would advise starting an MFL early and adding in Latin later.

 

L

 

So start Latin first and then a MFL? Would you space them and if so, how far apart?

[Laura Corin]

So start Latin first and then a MFL? Would you space them and if so, how far apart?

 

Other way round, to take advantage of the natural, unselfconscious language learning of young children. As early as possible for the MFL (Hobbes started Chinese at four), then about age ten for Latin. Starting Latin at that age sets you up nicely for reading classical texts in high school, and it stops the early years being too busy.

 

Laura

[Elfknitter.#]

Gotcha. I see I read that backwards.

 

I tried to introduce the monkeys to a MFL, but the weren't having it (much like their toddler sibling not really accepting basic ASL.) So I gave up and they glommed onto Latin. Now they're also interested in Ancient Greek. I accept that they are not the norm... Still, I thought learning Spanish would interest them some in the meantime (given our family ethnicity and history.)

[Laura Corin]

Gotcha. I see I read that backwards.

 

I tried to introduce the monkeys to a MFL, but the weren't having it (much like their toddler sibling not really accepting basic ASL.) So I gave up and they glommed onto Latin. Now they're also interested in Ancient Greek. I accept that they are not the norm... Still, I thought learning Spanish would interest them some in the meantime (given our family ethnicity and history.)

 

Definitely go with strongly-expressed interest. Learning a language is no small feat, so enthusiasm is a great start.

 

Hobbes got interested in Ancient Greek, so the head of classics at his school gives him one-on-one tuition at lunchtime for free. Except that the teacher is so busy, it doesn't happen that often.....

 

L

[Mom in High Heels]

I do not regret it at all. We'll be adding French in 7th grade (he'll be going into 6th this coming school year), and having learned French, I recognize a LOT of the roots from Latin. I had a chance to take Latin in high school and I wish now that I had. I don't see that it takes too long, nor that it takes time away from another subject. Indy also does Ancient Greek, which does take more time, but Indy loves it. Latin and Greek are Indy's favorite subjects. He makes a game out of finding Latin roots in English words. He's weird and awesome like that though. ;)

[Jay3fer]

I don't regret it, though we've only done one year of SSL. I just wanted to suggest that it doesn't have to be a huge time committment, at any stage, if that doesn't work for your family. As with other subjects, there are curricula for Latin which are "light" (relatively quick, oral) and those which are "heavy" (lots of writing, memorization, etc).

 

Understanding that any family can take it on at any level that works for them, I think it is very worth touching on Latin and understanding the Latin roots of English (linguistically and gramatically), and I regret that this was dropped from the public school curriculum before I came along...

 

p.s. It doesn't even need to cost money... I just took out GSWL from our local public library a couple of weeks ago, and you could probably find public-domain texts for free on Project Gutenberg. :-)

[NittanyJen]

No regrets about doing Latin here. The kids are fascinated by it, and actually, they are making fairly rapid progress in it in only about 10-20 minutes per day, so it is not really a big time commitment at all (Lively Latin is really a very well-done program). It is helping their English vocabulary and spelling, and since they now want to learn Spanish, I am looking ahead in the Spanish book and seeing where Latin will have really prepared the way for Spanish vocabulary and grammar pretty well.

 

On top of all of that, it is really reinforcing their English grammar!

[PentecostalMom]

No regrets about doing Latin here. The kids are fascinated by it, and actually, they are making fairly rapid progress in it in only about 10-20 minutes per day, so it is not really a big time commitment at all (Lively Latin is really a very well-done program). It is helping their English vocabulary and spelling, and since they now want to learn Spanish, I am looking ahead in the Spanish book and seeing where Latin will have really prepared the way for Spanish vocabulary and grammar pretty well.

 

On top of all of that, it is really reinforcing their English grammar!

 

 

Would you mind sharing what programs you used from the beginning and what age(s) you started with? I am adding Latin to our schedule later this fall and want to get some ideas about where to start and what to continue with. Thanks!

[NittanyJen]

Would you mind sharing what programs you used from the beginning and what age(s) you started with? I am adding Latin to our schedule later this fall and want to get some ideas about where to start and what to continue with. Thanks!

 

 

 

We started homeschooling when the boys were halfway through 2nd and 4th grade. My then 2nd grader started Prima Latina the following fall (would have been 3rd grade). Big brother started in The Big Book of Lively Latin. I was more pleased with Lively Latin, though I think it would have been tough for third grade.

 

We took a short breather at the end of that year and did Minimus, all together, and that was a lot of fun.

 

Big brother moved into the Big Book of Lively Latin II and younger (now 9) has moved into Lively Latin I after PL.

 

I am very happy with the BBLL, both books I and II. PL was a nice gentle introduction to Latin, even though I usually bend more toward secular offerings. It was more an introduction to vocabulary than working on much grammar, and it did not overwhelm with the pace at all.

 

If I were doing it again, I would probably still go to BBLL, but I would also have to look at the two series put out by Galore Park. One of them is aimed at younger kids, and I might start there instead of PL. It might or might not bear out, but if the quality is similar to the science books, it should be a slightly humorous but high quality offering.

[Laura Corin]

 

 

If I were doing it again, I would probably still go to BBLL, but I would also have to look at the two series put out by Galore Park. One of them is aimed at younger kids, and I might start there instead of PL. It might or might not bear out, but if the quality is similar to the science books, it should be a slightly humorous but high quality offering.

 

Just in case others are interested: GP would not be suitable for the age at which you used PL - it's designed for age 10 and up and the difficulty ramps up fairly fast.

 

L

[Matryoshka]

I haven't bothered with Latin, but we have done two MFL from a very young age with a view toward fluency, and one is a Latin-based language, and the other inflected, so I think in our case we're getting both the roots and grammar benefits, and for us it would have been superfluous. Ours is not the usual case, though.

[NittanyJen]

Just in case others are interested: GP would not be suitable for the age at which you used PL - it's designed for age 10 and up and the difficulty ramps up fairly fast.

 

L

 

Both Galore Park programs, or the younger one?

[Laura Corin]

 

Both Galore Park programs, or the younger one?

 

Latin Prep starts at age 10; So You Really Want to Learn Latin starts at about age 13. Neither assumes any previous Latin knowledge.

 

L

[JDoe]

It is a sizable time investment and I suppose trade offs have to be made (less time on other subjects, etc.)

 

 

I believe this is the right view to take on this issue, and it also implies that nobody else can do that evaluation for you.

 

Suggest you set up a list of priorities for what you want to do, with an estimate of how much time each subject will require to do WELL all the way to the end of your schooling ... (probably add in a 20-30% safety-margin to each of those numbers).

 

If Latin doesn't make the cut, given the total number of hours you will have available, then forget about it, most kids will never learn latin, and I suspect that most of those that do will forget it before they are 25-30. (It should be mentioned that it does not implies that nothing is to be gained even so).

[Alte Veste Academy]

I find Laura's take interesting because we started young with Spanish. We are from Texas and I took Spanish in school (actually retained some :lol:), so this was a no brainer for me. I always felt that Spanish would help with Latin just as Latin would help with Spanish, the difference being that they had more opportunity to use Spanish in everyday life than Latin. I get that doing some Latin in the early years makes it easier to handle the faster pace when taking it in the later years. However, in my (many years of :tongue_smilie:) research of Latin programs, I have been constantly puzzled that there doesn't seem to be a fluid path from elementary to high school Latin. It seems that every single middle grade and high school program I have found begins at the beginning. So I started to think what's the point?

 

DS10 wants to learn Latin and Greek after reading Percy Jackson. He is at a great age to start (actually at a great age to self-start, which is super helpful). I have planned to do Latin all along but waiting until the logic stage feels right. I think even waiting until 7th or 8th grade would be great. That's probably when I would have started him if he had not expressed interest prior.

 

Anyway, just some random thoughts. I am enjoying the thread!

[Samiam]

However, in my (many years of :tongue_smilie:) research of Latin programs, I have been constantly puzzled that there doesn't seem to be a fluid path from elementary to high school Latin. It seems that every single middle grade and high school program I have found begins at the beginning. So I started to think what's the point?

 

 

 

Anyway, just some random thoughts. I am enjoying the thread!

 

But that's true with any language curriculum, and not necessarily true with Latin. I've not seen any one Spanish program that starts in young elementary and moves all the way into high school. Not counting Rosetta Stone because I feel they are not all they crack themselves up to be. Every high school Spanish program, at least the beginner levels of high school, assume no prior knowledge. Otherwise they'd lose business. Can you imagine "You wouldn't want to use this 9th grade level curriculum unless you've spent years using our prior levels"..... So saying if we didn't get your business by 3rd grade, it's too late for you to use us. I guess our society is trained to think that 9th grade is a "start all over" level and thus curriculum publishers follow suit. Other subjects do this too....history comes to mind.

 

And actually starting at the beginning at a high school level doesn't mean prior knowledge isn't helpful. Prior experience will help one move more fluidily through a program that is deeper/moves faster.

As far as Latin though, Memoria Press does actually offer both elementary and middle school/high school Latin courses, and if one stayed the course with MP, those programs do build upon each other.

[Alte Veste Academy]

But that's true with any language curriculum, and not necessarily true with Latin. I've not seen any one Spanish program that starts in young elementary and moves all the way into high school. Not counting Rosetta Stone because I feel they are not all they crack themselves up to be. Every high school Spanish program, at least the beginner levels of high school, assume no prior knowledge. Otherwise they'd lose business. Can you imagine "You wouldn't want to use this 9th grade level curriculum unless you've spent years using our prior levels"..... So saying if we didn't get your business by 3rd grade, it's too late for you to use us. I guess our society is trained to think that 9th grade is a "start all over" level and thus curriculum publishers follow suit. Other subjects do this too....history comes to mind.

 

And actually starting at the beginning at a high school level doesn't mean prior knowledge isn't helpful. Prior experience will help one move more fluidily through a program that is deeper/moves faster.

As far as Latin though, Memoria Press does actually offer both elementary and middle school/high school Latin courses, and if one stayed the course with MP, those programs do build upon each other.

 

True, and I actually made the point about learning faster due to earlier exposure in my post. The important difference, for me, was that my kids were able to put Spanish to immediate use in real life (a use that would, hopefully, build and confer upon them the benefit of Spanish as life, not school, essentially making them more likely to be fluent as adults), and that not starting Latin early is kind of no big deal. I do not judge anyone else for starting Latin early. I was simply explaining why I prioritized the way I did.

[mom31257]

I've never done any Latin but would like to do some with my kids. Dd, who will be 11th grade, is doing Spanish 2 next year, and I'm working part-time because dh is laid off. I'm afraid I wouldn't have time to do it during the coming school year. I was thinking of doing Latin the next year (12th grade and 6th grade). Would something like First Form Latin be best with the age span and no prior experience? It is listed for 5th grade and up.

[Matryoshka]

Every high school Spanish program, at least the beginner levels of high school, assume no prior knowledge. Otherwise they'd lose business. Can you imagine "You wouldn't want to use this 9th grade level curriculum unless you've spent years using our prior levels"..... So saying if we didn't get your business by 3rd grade, it's too late for you to use us. I guess our society is trained to think that 9th grade is a "start all over" level and thus curriculum publishers follow suit.

 

Well, that's true if you start with book 1. Our middle schoolers all take a language, so they start with Level 2. My kids took lots of Spanish and started high school with Level 3 (turns out they probably should have started with Level 4, but I was conservative). No reason to start over from the beginning!

 

What frustrates me is that it's pretty much impossible to find any language curriculum pre-middle school that actually teaches anything other than "exposure". How many times do they need to learn colors, numbers, body parts and the weather???

[Flowergirl159]

I've been reading through the Latin threads and of course it all sounds so awesome. But I was talking to DH (who isn't exactly convinced) and it got me thinking...for those of you who have done Latin, does anyone feel it wasn't worth it? It is a sizable time investment and I suppose trade offs have to be made (less time on other subjects, etc.). I guess I'm just curious if anyone regrets the time they spent on Latin?

Following. I had only just looked into Latin, and chatted with DH who also isn't convinced on teaching them Latin. Is there another language close to Latin or that has the same benefits as Latin, that is a MFL?

[Matryoshka]

Following. I had only just looked into Latin, and chatted with DH who also isn't convinced on teaching them Latin. Is there another language close to Latin or that has the same benefits as Latin, that is a MFL?

 

 

Uh, any Latin language? Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian.... true, they don't have inflected grammar, but you'll get all the Latin roots and other kinds of grammar.

[Kalypso]

My 2 dds both started Latin in 4th/5th grade and made it through Latin 2 in high school. Then they switched to Spanish. DD18 breezed through Spanish I - IV at the CC in 2 years. My dd16 is on the same path. They both seem to have a very good understanding of English grammar also. I attribute their success to all the years of Latin and plan to study Latin the same way with my younger children.