will;do;no;harm;to;a;child’s;education.
But,;do;kids;really;retain;all;those;fac-
toids?;The;bigger;question;for;those;with
scarce;time;and;even;scarcer;money;is,
“Will;all;those;hours;of;early;Latin;really
pay;off?”;As;a;veteran;Latin;teacher;and
educator;of;three,;I;respond;with;a;quali-
fied,;“Not;that;much.”
When;we;signed;our;children;up;for
karate;classes;they;were;ages;11-16.;They
started;in;a;class;with;teens;and;adults.
They;advanced;quickly;because;they;were
mature;enough;to;take;direction;and;re-
sponded;positively;to;competition.;The
mother;of;classmates;confided;that;they
advanced;quickly;to;the;same;levels;that
took;her;kids;years;to;achieve;because;her
kids;were;very;young;when;they;started.
My;kids;aren’t;gifted;in;martial;arts.;They
are;developmentally;prepared;to;rapidly
learn;karate,;quickly;catching;up;to;their
younger;peers.
I;am;not;against;starting;sports,;Latin,
nor;any;appropriate;subject;at;an;early
age;if;time;and;money;allow.;In;the;busy
life;of;a;one-income;homeschool;family,
knowing;the;best;time;to;start;a;subject
can;be;a;huge;help.;When;is;the;optimal
time;to;start;Latin?;When;a;child;is;devel-opmentally;ready;to;master;data,;ask;how
and why,;and;employ;critical;thinking;to
tie;it;all;together;in;one;logical;package
through;reading;real;Latin.;In;practical
terms,;there;are;no;real;disadvantages;to
waiting;on;Latin;and;even;valuable;ad-vantages.;Consider;the;evidence;and;de-cide;what;is;right;for;your;family.
An;average;student;starting;my;class
is;14,;has;no;Latin;vocabulary;learned,
and;no;previous;Latin;experience.;Only
a;quarter;of;my;students;had;elemen-tary vocabulary or Latin basics be-fore;they;start.;One;might;expect;this
advantage would distinguish the two
groups;for;a;long;time.;It;isn’t;so.;By
their;first;midterm;exam,;I;can;seldom
see performance distinctions between
the haves and the have-nots. In prac-tice,;waiting;until;one;is;developmen-tally ready to begin an intellectually
challenging topic like Latin can actually fast forward a student’s progress,
even;beyond;peers;who;enjoyed;previ-ous;exposure;to;Latin.
If;early;drills;and;memorization;don’t
make;a;huge;difference;long-term,;what
will;give;a;student;a;linguistic;advantage?
The;most;successful;Latin;students;enjoy
one;or;all;of;the;following;traits:
•;They;have;had;a;wide;variety;of;lan-
guage experiences.
Excellent;Latin;students;tend;to;be;well
read.;They;have;dabbled;in;a;couple;of
other languages, formally and infor-mally.;They;have;traveled;abroad;to;ex-perience;foreign;languages;first;hand.
• They have experience working with
Greek and Latin word roots in English.
Being;able;to;see;the;various;linguistic
components;of;words;like;
incontrovertible or;geosynchronous is;a;matter;of
decoding;and;puzzling;through;Greek
and;Latin;word;roots,;not;just;memo-rizing;brainy;terms.;The;perfect;time
for;a;systematic;study;of;word;roots;is
during;middle;school;years,;just;before
starting;Latin.
•;They;have;a;well-rounded;training;in
English grammar.
Young;students;should;learn;parts;of
speech;and;be;able;to;recognize;them
easily.;Middle;school;students;need;a
comprehensive;study;of;the;mechanics
of;English;through;sentence;diagram-ming. This hands-on method is the
perfect;foundation;for;Latin.
•;They;wait;to;start;Latin;until;they;are
age 13-15.
Facts;in;isolation;can;drain;away;like
water;from;a;leaky;bucket.;The;optimal
way;to;learn;Latin;is;to;master;the;data
and;language;mechanics;through;lin-guistic;analysis.
Once a student is developmentally
ready;take;on;such;an;intellectual;chal-lenge, Latin becomes rewarding rather
than;tedious.;Waiting;until;your;child;is
ready;to;learn;will;improve;the;probabil-ity;that;your;child;will;love;Latin.
Amy Barr is a homeschool mother of three
and a full-time instructor of other home-
educated students as co-founder of The
Lukeion Project, www.lukeion.org. As an
archaeologist, she spent more than a decade
excavating sites throughout the Mediterra-
nean and teaching Classics at the college level.
Now she and her husband, Regan Barr, offer
their expertise through live online workshops
and college preparatory high school courses
about the Classical world, Latin, and Greek.
The two of them lead annual family tours
to the Mediterranean and invite you to join
them for a tour.
FREE
catalog
available
®
Teach Me Some Greek!
...the easy way to learn!
“If you want to begin the study of Greek
with your family, I recommend Hey,
Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! You will
soon find your children, young and old,
knowing the alphabet, words, sentences,
and ultimately translating the Greek New
Testament on their own.”
- Diane Wheeler, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine
P.O. Box 882
Moline, IL 61266-0882
www.greeknstuff.com
The;perfect;time;for;a;systematic;study;of;word;roots;is;during
middle;school;years,;just;before;starting;Latin.
