Starting in the middle

[Kit Rivers]

Hello all, I am new here, although I am on a number of other forums.

I am an eclectic homeschooler, whose 2 eldest are now at college and I have a 12 year old grade 7 ds (year 8 in NZ where we live). We have done some SL cores, we are currently doing Winterpromise's Sea and Sky, we've done our own unit studies, all sorts of things!

However I have recently been investigating classical education for me, and therefore am influenced towards it for ds. I am considering learning Latin and Logic for me....I am getting no younger and want to keep the old brain cells working! But where would I start ds? In NZ he would start High School next year, although in the US he would have another year before starting, so it is a good time to re-evaluate things for us.

Bearing in mind our kids are a year younger than US High schoolers, where would you start a child new to the classical approach? Would you do Latin, or just 'roots'? What about Logic? Is there a scope and sequence for starting in the middle? Ds is young for his age, emotionally and physically, but quite a bright chap without being 'gifted'. He works willingly but still prefers Lego to school. ;)

All ideas gratefully received.

Katie

[tanya]

Hello, Katie!

I am so glad you are exploring a classical education. You've got plenty of time to give your son a good Latin background. I would begin with our new First Form Latin curriculum. We are beta testing it currently, but I am putting the link below so you can look at it. We would love to have you join our beta group if you want to go ahead and get started.

The link is: http://memoriapress.com/descriptions/first-form-latin.html

As far as a study of classical history goes, I would begin with Rome and Greece. Our Famous Men series is fine, and there are some great out-of-print books by Dorothy Mills that you can still buy on used book sites called 'The Book of the Ancient Romans' and 'The Book of the Ancient Greeks.' The advantage with starting with Famous Men is that they have study guides with them so your curriculum is basically laid out.

I definitely think Logic would be a great addition to your curriculum. I would start with Traditional Logic, move from there to Material Logic, and finish up with Rhetoric.

Also, to educate yourself on a classical education, there is a compilation of articles on our website called 'An Apologia for a Latin-Centered Classical Curriculum' that might be helpful to you. And Tracy Lee Simmons has written the best apology for a classical education that I have read, called Climbing Parnassus (I don't know how to italicize on here).

As far as your own education goes, we are offering online classes this summer for adults - a Latin class and a Logic class. You can get more information on these at: memoriapress.com/course
The summer classes may not be up yet, but they will be there soon, so keep checking.

If I can help you any further, I would be glad to speak with you. My email is tanya@memoriapress.com.

Regards,
Tanya

[Kit Rivers]

Thank you Tanya, for your help. We have gone ahead and ordered 'First Form Latin' and will be happy to help beta it for you.

I have also been in touch with the NZ distributer of Memoria, and hope to soon order Traditional logic for me to start. It is very exciting to feel we are about to start out on this new road.

How do classically educated students fare in the next stage of life, at college and at work. Are they at an advantage to conventionally educated students, or do they find difficulties with not knowing 'modern' subjects, like media studies? (what IS Media studies ;))

Thank you again for your help
Katie

[tanya]

Katie,

I'm so glad you've joined our First Form group.

I can only speak from my experience with a classically educated child. My oldest son had a classical education, but he was never a motivated student (he got by with the least he could do, hated Latin, and was only an average student). But he made a 28 on the ACT (his verbal score was 35, and I know that is due to his Latin background). He got into every college he applied to and received academic scholarships totaling $23,000. This isn't the kind of student who should have been attractive to colleges, but he was well-educated in spite of himself.

I think the difference in his life was due to the thinking skills and work ethic developed through Latin study. And I know that his understanding of people and ability to look critically at the world is due to his thorough study of ancient history. He is better able to put life into perspective. He did not go through school reading anthologies and bits of literature and history. He read entire books. You can go to the Highlands Latin School website (thelatinschool.org) and see exactly what he studied by looking at their curriculum.

Anyway, this is a student who would have remained lazy and not taken advantage of his opportunity for learning, but the rigour of a classical education forced him to work hard and gave him the gift of critical thinking that will benefit him for a lifetime (though he still won't admit it).

At our local high school, Media Studies is a very popular class because it involves video cameras and equipment (not sitting at a desk reading Thucydides). Practical Living is another class I really don't get the purpose of. I think it involves balancing a checkbook and brushing your teeth regularly. These seem more like extra-curriculars to me, but as a teenager, I certainly would have chosen them over math!

I'll be glad to continue to help you as you explore the classics. Welcome aboard!

Tanya