My children are older (12 and 15) and we studied Latin with the two Minimus books last year. My older son is now in school for GCSEs and I’m delighted he chose Latin as one of his electives. My younger son and I are also following the GCSE curriculum as homeschoolers (the new GCSE books by Cullen and Taylor are very good). It has been so rewarding! As you say, there are Latin references all around us…
So far, so good! We chose a small, local independent school, and he’s been put in the top set for all his subjects. His English teacher said it’s like having a first year university student in the classroom. There was a learning curve with regard to managing the uniform, timetable, homework, and revising for tests, but it was easier than we expected. Homeschooling has certainly not held him back academically. He does feel a little frustrated and cynical at times about how the GCSE curriculum is structured and the inefficiency of school learning in general. He’s made friends pretty easily, although he seems to have been really lucky with this particular year group, so it might not have been the case at a different school. As a boy who doesn’t play video games and doesn’t have a smartphone, he is considered something of an exotic species (!), but not in a bad way so far…
I am still homeschooling him on the weekends and holidays (with his 12 yo brother): Plutarch, Shakespeare, classic literature, artist and composer studies, and inspiring science books — all to hopefully counteract the GCSE bilge.
We did a very little bit of Latin a few years ago when my son’s special interest was birds, he loved reading bird books and had noticed the patterns in the Latin names. He used to then invent new birds using combinations of different Latin names. He didn’t really get on with learning it as a language but I definitely see how it’s still relevant today.
We have just started Minimus! Easy to find secondhand and I love that you can print out the supplemental resources (workbook etc) for free online.
Finding it very effective so far - Rosie was reluctant at first to try Latin (it was my bargaining deal for her request to start French) but the layout and story make for easy learning and we are both enjoying it.
Agree with everything here. Greek and Latin are both foundational linguistically and culturally to Western civilization that learning them can't not enrich your life.
My question is what resources you use for Greek and plan to use Latin? Maybe you've already covered that in a post and I just missed it. I want to begin one or both with my kids but am not sure where to start.
For Greek, Basil Batrakhos - you can get the whole book for free online but I think it’s worth having the physical book, which you can order. For Latin I expect Minimus because everyone says it’s so good, but I haven’t looked at it myself yet.
I memorised a list of latin vocabulary every single week of my school life from aged 8-18. It was kind of comforting in the end, like a heartbeat, but I do occasionally get anxiety dreams that the latin test is tomorrow and I haven't learned vocabulary. Grappling whether to do it with my own kids (so fun! so time-consuming!), so I enjoyed this a lot. Thanks.
yes, but the grammar has all gone. Apart from the simplest constructions I'd have a hell of a time translating anything now. The thing is with Latin is that you can't do immersion like you can with other languages, so you have to brute-force the vocabulary.
lol idk why when I saw the word Latin I thought you meant Spanish 😂 I was going to ask about learning about a second language and the benefits of starting when they are younger vs. older but I don’t think I have the capacity to teach a second language I don’t know myself at this point in my mothering when I’m more focused on learning to cook for my family first. Anyways I think my logic is unrelated now that I realized you didn’t mean Spanish.
Ha! My daughter keeps asking to learn Spanish and I keep saying that with French and Greek we maybe have enough to be getting on with for a bit? I didn’t know much Greek myself before we started though and I have loved learning alongside them. I can see it would work fine learning a completely new language together… just maybe not right now!
We don’t homeschool but my son is Greek myths obsessed (thanks to Percy Jackson, and the plausibly more intellectual Greeking Out). We’ve been doing some Greek root words for fun, and it’s so satisfying when it clicks.
Big fans of Percy Jackson and Greeking Out here! I’ve been thinking about how to develop the Greek once we finish out current book. The obvious next step is to learn the GCSE work (exams usually taken at age 16), but that’s a big step up for young children. So I think we might focus on root words too for a while and just build up the vocab.
Honestly I just like knowing a language nobody around me knows but opens you up to a world of original texts. When I meet a fellow Latin speaker (? Readers? What are we really? 😆) it feels like meeting a fellow member of a secret society. I always get along with a fellow Latin nerd. So I’ll be teaching my kids.
Thank you for writing this post & so quickly must mean that this came right from your heart. I posted a similar comment on X and got a whole heap of beautiful responses. People feel very strongly about this. I'll plan to write it up in honor of your ideas. I'm in awe of the people who are teaching their kids Latin because they make the most wonderful and thoughtful conversationalists. Thank you again!
My children are older (12 and 15) and we studied Latin with the two Minimus books last year. My older son is now in school for GCSEs and I’m delighted he chose Latin as one of his electives. My younger son and I are also following the GCSE curriculum as homeschoolers (the new GCSE books by Cullen and Taylor are very good). It has been so rewarding! As you say, there are Latin references all around us…
That’s great to hear, I have my eye on Minimus for next year. Would love to hear how your older son is finding school after home ed.
So far, so good! We chose a small, local independent school, and he’s been put in the top set for all his subjects. His English teacher said it’s like having a first year university student in the classroom. There was a learning curve with regard to managing the uniform, timetable, homework, and revising for tests, but it was easier than we expected. Homeschooling has certainly not held him back academically. He does feel a little frustrated and cynical at times about how the GCSE curriculum is structured and the inefficiency of school learning in general. He’s made friends pretty easily, although he seems to have been really lucky with this particular year group, so it might not have been the case at a different school. As a boy who doesn’t play video games and doesn’t have a smartphone, he is considered something of an exotic species (!), but not in a bad way so far…
I am still homeschooling him on the weekends and holidays (with his 12 yo brother): Plutarch, Shakespeare, classic literature, artist and composer studies, and inspiring science books — all to hopefully counteract the GCSE bilge.
I took Latin in high school and first year university. Fascinating and also historical. It does help with English. Iliad. And The Odyssey.
We did a very little bit of Latin a few years ago when my son’s special interest was birds, he loved reading bird books and had noticed the patterns in the Latin names. He used to then invent new birds using combinations of different Latin names. He didn’t really get on with learning it as a language but I definitely see how it’s still relevant today.
We have just started Minimus! Easy to find secondhand and I love that you can print out the supplemental resources (workbook etc) for free online.
Finding it very effective so far - Rosie was reluctant at first to try Latin (it was my bargaining deal for her request to start French) but the layout and story make for easy learning and we are both enjoying it.
Agree with everything here. Greek and Latin are both foundational linguistically and culturally to Western civilization that learning them can't not enrich your life.
My question is what resources you use for Greek and plan to use Latin? Maybe you've already covered that in a post and I just missed it. I want to begin one or both with my kids but am not sure where to start.
For Greek, Basil Batrakhos - you can get the whole book for free online but I think it’s worth having the physical book, which you can order. For Latin I expect Minimus because everyone says it’s so good, but I haven’t looked at it myself yet.
Thank you! I appreciate it!
I memorised a list of latin vocabulary every single week of my school life from aged 8-18. It was kind of comforting in the end, like a heartbeat, but I do occasionally get anxiety dreams that the latin test is tomorrow and I haven't learned vocabulary. Grappling whether to do it with my own kids (so fun! so time-consuming!), so I enjoyed this a lot. Thanks.
Oh wow, you must have learnt so much! Do you still retain some of it now?
yes, but the grammar has all gone. Apart from the simplest constructions I'd have a hell of a time translating anything now. The thing is with Latin is that you can't do immersion like you can with other languages, so you have to brute-force the vocabulary.
In retrospect it was amazingly luxurious to be able to devote so much time to it
lol idk why when I saw the word Latin I thought you meant Spanish 😂 I was going to ask about learning about a second language and the benefits of starting when they are younger vs. older but I don’t think I have the capacity to teach a second language I don’t know myself at this point in my mothering when I’m more focused on learning to cook for my family first. Anyways I think my logic is unrelated now that I realized you didn’t mean Spanish.
Ha! My daughter keeps asking to learn Spanish and I keep saying that with French and Greek we maybe have enough to be getting on with for a bit? I didn’t know much Greek myself before we started though and I have loved learning alongside them. I can see it would work fine learning a completely new language together… just maybe not right now!
We don’t homeschool but my son is Greek myths obsessed (thanks to Percy Jackson, and the plausibly more intellectual Greeking Out). We’ve been doing some Greek root words for fun, and it’s so satisfying when it clicks.
Big fans of Percy Jackson and Greeking Out here! I’ve been thinking about how to develop the Greek once we finish out current book. The obvious next step is to learn the GCSE work (exams usually taken at age 16), but that’s a big step up for young children. So I think we might focus on root words too for a while and just build up the vocab.
Honestly I just like knowing a language nobody around me knows but opens you up to a world of original texts. When I meet a fellow Latin speaker (? Readers? What are we really? 😆) it feels like meeting a fellow member of a secret society. I always get along with a fellow Latin nerd. So I’ll be teaching my kids.
Thank you for writing this post & so quickly must mean that this came right from your heart. I posted a similar comment on X and got a whole heap of beautiful responses. People feel very strongly about this. I'll plan to write it up in honor of your ideas. I'm in awe of the people who are teaching their kids Latin because they make the most wonderful and thoughtful conversationalists. Thank you again!