# I'm pretty sure that if they could get away with it...



## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

My two little boys would eat their Latin books if it would get them out of doing it today. L! We are DEEP into winter/cabin fever/no light in the NW/ we've had it/ we're done/ and who took the sun away and could we punish that person please? L!
How do you deal with winter-is-too-long-frustrations at your house? Sorry, I have no good ideas. I am bribing them with brownies to do their schoolwork. :ashamed: 

Cindyc.


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

serious question......why latin?


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Dead Rabbit said:


> serious question......why latin?


gateway language to 6 or 8 of the romance languages. If you know it, french, spanish, portugese, italian and a host of others are really easy to learn. It's like a 6 for the price of one language special. My older kids who have been studying latin for many years can understand spanish and french when they hear it spoken, and order at an italian restaurant (in Italian) though they have never studied the language. Very large gains on the SAT/ACT english selections because 60% of english words are derived from latin, not to mention the spelling gains. A way to teach english grammar that actually sticks because you have to use it to translate latin properly. It is an early way to teach logic skills and thinking skills that children can handle before they are ready for the formal study of either. Western civ. can be studied at older ages from source documents. The process of learning language is the same no matter what the language is, so they learn how to learn languages when they are young. And a couple of other things.  Cindyc.


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## BusyBees2 (Dec 10, 2004)

Can you take a vacation? Do a few fieldtrips? Go see a movie? Something to break the duldrums?


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

cindy-e said:


> gateway language to 6 or 8 of the romance languages. If you know it, french, spanish, portugese, italian and a host of others are really easy to learn. It's like a 6 for the price of one language special. My older kids who have been studying latin for many years can understand spanish and french when they hear it spoken, and order at an italian restaurant (in Italian) though they have never studied the language. Very large gains on the SAT/ACT english selections because 60% of english words are derived from latin, not to mention the spelling gains. A way to teach english grammar that actually sticks because you have to use it to translate latin properly. It is an early way to teach logic skills and thinking skills that children can handle before they are ready for the formal study of either. Western civ. can be studied at older ages from source documents. The process of learning language is the same no matter what the language is, so they learn how to learn languages when they are young. And a couple of other things.  Cindyc.


wow. i never realized all this. and i thought it was nothing short of a dead language. thankyou for the education.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

BusyBees2 said:


> Can you take a vacation? Do a few fieldtrips? Go see a movie? Something to break the duldrums?


Yea. They invited some buddies over tonight. That should help.  We are thankful for the weekend! L!

Cindyc.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Dead Rabbit said:


> wow. i never realized all this. and i thought it was nothing short of a dead language. thankyou for the education.


You're welcome. I forgot to mention how much it helps with writing later in life. It forms the habit of being very specific and intentional about your word choice. In latin, there are 72 forms of the verb, "to be". 72! In English, there are only 22.

Cindyc.


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

cindy-e said:


> You're welcome. I forgot to mention how much it helps with writing later in life. It forms the habit of being very specific and intentional about your word choice. In latin, there are 72 forms of the verb, "to be". 72! In English, there are only 22.
> 
> Cindyc.


im impressed with your knowledge. who'd a thought much less known there was 22???

i graduated in '91 and a few of the students that were in the upper percentile of the class and was definitly collage bound took a latin class. it was via satellite,,,i figured it was another one of those classes that was useless, pointless, etc. how wrong i was. now that im older, id like the opportunity to be able to learn a few more things.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Dead Rabbit said:


> im impressed with your knowledge. who'd a thought much less known there was 22???
> 
> i graduated in '91 and a few of the students that were in the upper percentile of the class and was definitly collage bound took a latin class. it was via satellite,,,i figured it was another one of those classes that was useless, pointless, etc. how wrong i was. now that im older, id like the opportunity to be able to learn a few more things.


me too.  I learned all of the stuff I told you above from homeschooling my own kids. And I thought the same thing about most of the classes in high school that you did.  I really did. Hopefully, we all live and learn. I am enjoying learning and teaching my kids. 

Cindyc.


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## foaly (Jan 14, 2008)

Poor Cindy!!! I am so feeling your pain right now, honey! 

My youngest son told me recently that if he has to do one more math lesson, he's just going to DIE!!!! :hysterical: He's so precious. I just love my kids.

Cabin fever (the syndrome, not the HTer) is running rampant here too. Trying to spend more time doing hands-on things. 

Which latin program do you use? I purchased Prima Latina because it looks pretty user friendly without being too difficult. Latin is one of those subjects that may not seem too useful at the time it's being learned but is more of a "light bulb clicks on in later years" and suddenly the benefit is discovered.

Just remember....spring comes soon, so there is hope. One thing I am planning for the first week of February is to start our seedlings for the garden. Should be lots of good, dirty, hands-on fun for my guys and gives them the reminder that warmer weather is just around the corner.


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

cindy-e said:


> me too.  I learned all of the stuff I told you above from homeschooling my own kids. And I thought the same thing about most of the classes in high school that you did.  I really did. Hopefully, we all live and learn. I am enjoying learning and teaching my kids.
> 
> Cindyc.



im quite certain you are enjoying it more than they are.....thus the way of life.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

foaly said:


> Poor Cindy!!! I am so feeling your pain right now, honey!
> 
> My youngest son told me recently that if he has to do one more math lesson, he's just going to DIE!!!! :hysterical: He's so precious. I just love my kids.
> 
> ...


I've used Prima Latina before with my older kids. Latin for Children is supposed to be the new "gold standard" because it is supposed to be more fun for the kids. But I could never bring myself to pay that much money for it. Honestly, I went with Matin Latin because Cannon Press had one of those $5.00 sales a while back.  This is the 4th (and 5th) time that I have taught Latin, so the curriculum we are using is less important this time around.  Between the two elementary curricula that I have used, I like Matin Latin better, but I don't think I would have if it was the first time I was teaching it. The only drawback that I see to Prima Latina is that it teaches ecclesiastical pronunciation instead of classical pronunciation. That only matters if you plan to have them take the National Latin Exam when they are a bit older.  

Our planting date here is JUNE. UG. :-( I have a friend who is going to california next week to get into the sun. I wanna go with her. L!

Cindyc.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Dead Rabbit said:


> im quite certain you are enjoying it more than they are.....thus the way of life.


This week, yea, probably. But we do a lot of stuff to keep it fun for the kids where we can. We run a robotics club, and a hands on history club where they get to make cool stuff. But this week, we are all sort of just... over it. L! It happens. 

Cindyc.


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

We've been having the Blah's here too. Very frustrating for parent and child. So I'm kind of taking a mini break. We've done very little book work, just a page of handwriting and a page of math or so a day. But, we've hatched quail, just got done watching Victorian Farm and comparing that life-style to Frontier House, which is set in nearly the same time and she has discovered that among the hobbies of that time she isn't into sewing or embroidery.
Today we are (WOOHOOOOO!!!!!) installing our new-to-us woodstove so DD will help cook tonight's meal on it. In fact, I think we'll just have a Back In Time day all around, right up to making her wear a long skirt all day to dress the part.

I'm trying to use this slow time to set up a couple of unit studies, where instead of doing subjects separately, I link all of them around a common theme. This doesn't work for us as an every day thing - but it makes a good "break" for a week or two and then she wants to "just do regular school" again. She tends to really throw herself into the unit studies and get very intense, so each is a break from the other.

Ok, you have me intrigued. For a rank beginner teaching a 3rd grader - is there a Latin curriculum you suggest? We've been trying to pick a language to learn as a family.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Well, the one everybody loves is Latin for Children. It's expensive though, so I never bought it. But it has special colorful stories, and songs, and lots of interest, I am told. Matin Latin has worked well for us. No bells and whistles at all, though. Very basic, black and white workbook. the Latina Christiana has a dvd series with Cheryl Lowe teaching it. It's kind of boring but it works if teaching Latin is intimidating. 

Cindyc.


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