When I was young, I loved to read biographies. In the elementary school I went to, we had 30 minutes of library time every day. Thirty minutes of nothing to do but read. Read anything we wanted. We didn’t have a big library. In fact, it was in the cafeteria. One wall of the cafeteria was lined with book cases, filled with books. That was it, but I loved it. I always gravitated to the biography section — biographies about important people in American history. By the time I aged out of that school, I had read all the biographies in the series.
What does this have to do with Latin? One thing I noticed while reading about all those important people in our history was that they spoke multiple languages. I was amazed. I didn’t know anyone who could speak more than one language, let alone four or five. I figured these people must have been very smart. How could they be able to speak English, French, Spanish, Italian and even Portugese?
Fast forward several years to my early home schooling days. I began hearing about moms who taught their kids Latin. They talked about it so enthusiastically that I kept listening, reading, learning. During this research stage, I learned how all those people I read about it in my early days spoke so many foreign languages. It was Latin! They all studied Latin. It was considered a normal part of a young person’s education. Those languages — English, French, Spanish, Italian and Portugese had roots in Latin. If someone had studied Latin, learning these other languages was much easier.
I had discovered the key. My children could learn all those languages just like the people I had read about so many years ago. But there was one problem. I didn’t know Latin. I took my required foreign language in high school — French. No one ever suggested I take Latin, and yes, it was offered. All of a sudden, I was wishing I had taken Latin so I could teach my children. One thing I’ve learned through all these years of home schooling is that it is never too late to learn — anything. Old dogs can learn new tricks. It may take a little more effort but given the motivation that it will benefit my child, the effort would be worth it.
My oldest son was about 9 or 10. A late start in some Latin teaching circles but I would start with him anyway. I bought a used copy of a highly recommended curriculum and we began. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but that was okay. We learned together. We kept at it a couple of years maybe even 3 or 4. It was grueling at times. We never became proficient at it but we learned the basics.
By the time son #2 was ready to start Latin, I was ready for a different approach. I bought another highly recommended curriculum. We studied hard. It was grueling as well but a little less daunting. By the time I was ready to start with son #3 I was ready to start with curriculum #3. You get the idea. I kept looking for something that would make it all easier for me and for my kids. None of the curriculum choices were faulty. I was just on a learning curve.
After dabbling with about 5 different Latin curricula, I have finally hit my stride. These last two kids have a much more relaxed teacher that actually knows a little bit about what she’s talking about. It’s still not my favorite subject to teach. That honor goes to Math and Music. None of my boys are what I would consider proficient in Latin but they know more than they did when they started.
You may be wondering what my “go to” Latin curriculum is these days. I feel very comfortable with Latin’s Not So Tough by Greek’n’Stuff. I actually discovered this curriculum while looking for Greek. My #3 son was interested in studying Greek (I think he was trying to avoid Latin). Green’n’Stuff has a Greek study called Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!. Since this boy is named Andrew, I couldn’t resist. I highly recommend both their Greek and their Latin.
I have been privileged to teach Latin in co-op classes. Latin’s Not So Tough is what I have used for kids 9 and up. For the younger set, I really enjoyed teaching Song School Latin by Classical Academics Press. Their whole line of foreign language studies is excellent but the Song School Latin is so much fun. There are songs, games, stories. It was perfect for our younger Latin class in co-op.
This year, since we’ve moved, I don’t have a co-op that I can depend on for Latin. I am back to teaching one on one with the two boys I have left at home. I had to ask myself, Why Teach Latin? Is it worth the extra time I’m going to have to put into it? The boys grumbled. Is it worth the aggravation? The answer is a resounding, YES! We’re backing up, doing a lot of review and going at a snail’s pace but we’re going to study Latin this year and the next and as long as I can get by with teaching it to them. Not because I expect them to become multi-lingual, although that was my original motivation. Latin offers much more than that.
Latin improves vocabulary. Much of the English language has its roots in Latin. Many disciplines depend on Latin — medicine, law, music, art, etc. Latin encourages logical thinking, problem solving, attention to detail. Latin helps the understanding of grammar in English as well as other languages. With this in-depth understanding of grammar, vocabulary and the critical thinking processes that have been strengthened, the study of Latin will improve communication skills, whether verbal or written. Everything your child plans to do in life, everything, requires good communication skills. All of that hard work in the beginning years will reap great rewards for years to come.
You may be wondering about that #1 son of mine. The one who had a mom who knew nothing about Latin but was determined to teach it anyway. Did it help him? He is the only one of my boys to attend public school. He went one year when he was 16 so he could play baseball. They were using a block schedule so they crammed one year of learning into one semester. While I think this would be disastrous for kids who are struggling with a subject, it was great for Matthew. He was able in that one year to complete 2 years of Spanish. We had not studied Spanish at home but he excelled in Spanish at school. He was given a reward at the end of the year for the highest average in Spanish. Of course, the true reward is not the certificate he was handed but it gave this mama the validation I needed to continue teaching Latin to his 5 little brothers. Yes, Latin was difficult at times but it was worth it.
