Monday, March 12, 2007

Latin

Over the last couple of years I have become convinced that Latin is one of the most beneficial subjects to study. It teaches grammar, increases vocabulary, encourages logical thinking and provides building blocks that can later be used to learn other modern foreign languages. And it is the liturgical language of the Catholic Church for good measure.

Angel's Latin experience was a brief and reluctant dabbling with Latina Christiana. Star sat in on those lessons and showed more interest than her sister, so I decided to make an early start with a more serious attempt at learning Latin for her. This year we have been using Latin Prep Book 1 from Galore Park - really intended for children a year or more older - and ... it is working!!!! She can translate simple sentences from Latin to English and vice versa, is grasping the use of different cases, and best of all, seems to be enjoying it. We are going very slowly, with anything from three to five sentences a day, but regular short lessons are paying off. This time round, I'm determined we are going to stick with the Latin. And on a day when we got off to a late start and other things were like wading through glue, it is good to have something encouraging going on!

2 comments:

Suzanne Temple said...

I agree. Latin is very important. We hope to start next year. What age is the Latin prep meant for?

Anonymous said...

I too think Latin is a wonderful thing to study. Really I think once one can read, Math, music and Latin are the core of a good education. All the rest seems to follow, even writing, though that may take a little fine tuning.