Next week John will begin studying Latin.
Latin is a key component to a classical education. Why Latin? I appreciate the explanation Susan Wise Bauer gives.
"Why bother with Latin? It is, after all, a dead language (a pejorative phrase) - no literature is being produced in it, no one's speaking it or doing business in it.
We bother with it for a number of reasons.
Latin trains the mind to think in an orderly fashion. Latin (being dead) is the most systematic language around. The discipline of assembling endings and arranging syntax (grammar patterns) according to set rules is the mental equivalent of a two-mile jog. And because Latin demands precision, the Latin-trained mind becomes accustomed to paying attention to detail, a habit that will pay off especially when studying math and science.
Latin improves English skills. The grammatical structure of English is based on Latin, as is about 50 percent of English vocabulary. The student who understands how Latin works is rarely tripped up by complicated English syntax or obscure English words...
Latin prepares the child for the study of other foreign languages... The child who has been drilled in Latin syntax understands the concepts of agreement, inflected nouns, conjugated verbs, and grammatical gender not matter what language these concepts appear in (Bauer, The Well-Trained Mind , 189)."
It is recommended that a child begins to study Latin in third grade, and now that we've got a school semester under our belt, we're ready to start.
**Thank you, Julianne, for passing on your Latin curriculum. We are excited to begin.**
My husband took Latin in school as well. Sounds fun. Also, if your children ever need to communicate with the "others" from Lost, they will be able to :)
ReplyDeleteI did take Latin for four years in high school. In retrospect, I would have preferred Spanish or French, as they teach many of the same ideas as Latin, but also have the benefit of being practical. However, starting in third grade sounds a lot better than high school. I never really felt like I understood Latin that well, despite four years of half-hearted study. I'm sure that John will be better than I ever was when he gets to 9th grade level.
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