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by Kathy Harkins
Why teach Latin, a “dead” language? Perhaps Dorothy Sayers, in her essay “The Lost Tools of Learning,” explains it best: “simply because even a rudimentary knowledge of Latin cuts down the la-bor and pains of learning almost any other subject by at least 50 percent. It is the key to the vocabulary and structure of all the Romance languages and to the structure of all the Teutonic languages, as well as to the technical vocabulary of all the sciences and to the literature of the entire Mediterranean civilization, together with all its historical documents.” Plus, students who take Latin reportedly average a whopping 85 points higher on their SAT scores!
Learning Latin is a building-block process. Begin with vocabulary, then move on to sentences. Gram-mar is generally last. The process takes time, perhaps several years, unless you are teaching a high schooler or a very gifted student. Younger children may excel at memorization, but their ability to apply grammar is limited. A Latin course for younger children focuses more on vocabulary. The basic verb forms repeated in a sing-song manner (amo, amas, amat, etc.) is a good starting place for young minds
Select a supportive program, one that is easy to use and won’t take up a lot of time. A good answer key and a pronunciation tape are absolutely essential.
English From the Roots Up Word Cards – This is a set of one hundred Latin and Greek roots with derivatives and definitions on the back. Go through several cards daily using them as flash cards, so the student can learn vocabulary and derivatives.
Chant Chart Set – This is something new, an over-view of conjugations and declensions on three double-sided laminated sheets.
Latina Christiana I – In addition to the workbook, the teacher’s key and audio tape are essential. Have students listen to the vocabulary once a day, fill in a homework sheet three times a week, do the work- book page, ing no more than 15 minutes or so per day. There is even a website where children can go over their vocabulary (run a search for Latina Christiana). Printed Latin flash cards are also now available.
Latina Christiana II – Depending on the students’ ability, I use this as a straight vocabulary and verb form builder, perhaps with some grammar thrown in. Our Roman Roots – This “homeschooling-friendly” program should take about 20 minutes per day. There are hints of grammar and the text is enjoyable, and goes by quickly enough for junior high students to finish in one year. This program is done by the student, with the teacher’s key and audio tape. I look over assignments and grade the 5th day’s quiz.
Basic Language Principles through Latin Background – Here’s a way to relate English grammar with some Latin. I have the teacher’s key and will “teach” this one to my 7th grader because English grammar is one of those subjects that I have never had a student pick up entirely on his own.
Fr. Robert Henle’s Latin – Henle’s Latin is highly recommended for High School and my students enjoy it. The essentials include the Henle text, a Latin grammar text, an answer key, and, for a busy mother, Laura Berquist’s syllabus. The syllabus lays out a one-year plan and a two-year plan for an excellent course in Latin.
Remember, you are passing on not only a wonderful tradition but also a golden key to learning. Be flexible, and when you get off track due to that sometimes overfull homeschooling schedule, take heart in the fact that Latin is both a learning skill and an accumulation of knowledge - if your students learn only 50 vocabulary words out of 200, count it as plus 50.
Kathy Harkins is a homechooling mother of seven and has taught Latin at Wednesday Co-op as well as to her children at home. Most resources mentioned here are available from Emmanuel Books
Extracurricular activities can be something of a dilemma for many homeschooling families. The diverse interests of the children in a large family can result in a scheduling and chauffeuring nightmare. Is the importance of extracurricular activities exaggerated? Should we just keep the kids home all week and forge ahead in our planbooks? Is there a happy medium?
College admissions officers want to see participation in extracurricular activities, with special dedication to one or two. How do we juggle babies, toddlers, and the regular homeschool schedule, not to mention the household schedule, with these seemingly extraneous activities?
Many families have their own way of dealing with outside activities. What works for one family may not work for another. We present here three distinct views and approaches that work for these homeschooling families.
We’d like to help homeschooling families plan and organize their children’s outside activities. How do you deal with outside activities for your children? What is your family philosophy regarding extracurricular activities? Send us your approach for the next installment of The Extracurricular Dilemma.
The Harkins Family: Now that my students are older and have more academic work, my philosophy is to try not to do too many extracurricular things. Reality, oftentimes, ends up quite different. We have a fishbowl that one daughter decorated; anyone who wants to do an activity writes it down and puts it in the bowl. I go through the bowl and try to fit things in. My older children have quite an active social life and I am usually willing to carpool them to different places, preferably with advance notice! I drive two daughters to violin lessons and five of the children to Irish Dancing classes, both once a week. Our dancing is wonderful for large, multi-age families as it is “one stop” rather than different times and days for each child. This year we are attending 7 a.m. mass on Friday mornings and are still able to come home and start our school day on time. My advice for deciding what to do and what not to do is first, pray about it, and second, ask your husband. On many occasions my wonderful husband has stepped in – seeing the true needs of our family, which include a well-rested, cheerful Mom – to veto an activity. Husbands can be our best resource for perspective on extracurricular activities!
The Robidoux Family: We in the Robidoux household do not have the problem that most homeschoolers have with too many activities. Once your student is in high school you must actively seek out appropriate extracurricular activities. Clare continues to take violin lessons and is involved in a music ensemble, but we would like her to find some sport other than Instant Messenger.
The Duplantier Family: On the whole, we believe extracurricular activities are highly overrated. But there are some things that just can’t be handled within the homeschool. This year we reserved Wednesdays solely for Co-op, with five of our six children attending for some portion of the day. Dance lessons are the only other extracurricular activity we currently participate in. That’s six different classes on four days each week. No, it’s not easy and not always convenient. Two of the classes mean late nights for my oldest, but this is something they all enjoy and have invested many years in. Both Co-op and the dance studio are within 15 minutes of our house. That is a big plus. This year we “cut back” – no more piano lessons or parish choir. The resulting schedule has proved to be more relaxing for us all.
The Benoist Family: We try to only do extracurricular activities that will not put too much strain on our family. By this, I mean everyone being pulled in different directions. At one time, we had the kids in sports leagues through the CYC program, but everyone had different practice times and different game schedules. We now participate in our parish choir. Our parish offers a children’s choir and a youth group section for high schoolers. Practice is at the same time, so it is less complicated. This also lets our children mix with children in the parish. We have been fortunate enough to be invited to sing at the new Cathedral, and this past summer at the Eucharistic Congress. Our parish also puts on a Christmas concert with a play, so the children get to do some drama. Our older children volunteer at the parish for serving and cantoring duties. You might be surprised at what your parish has available for you. Check them out!
The Gill Family: My husband and I have placed a fair amount of importance on extracurricular activities, for a number of reasons, but mostly for these two: First, we believe they can serve as an important adjunct to homeschooling, compensating for our weaknesses and helping to make certain that our children are not held back because of our limitations. Most of our outside activities have been in the arts and physical fitness, two areas that are important to us but difficult for me to teach in the family. Second, we think it is a positive benefit to have our children relating to other instructors and interacting with both homeschooled and non-homeschooled peers. This becomes a forum for them to develop in the social virtues, something that by definition cannot be accomplished at home.
We tend to take our extracurriculars seriously, and this means devoting time and money to finding excellent instruction, not to mention the time in the car. This year, with one of our daughters having made a major commitment to ballet and theater lessons, I find myself climbing into the van virtually every afternoon. We use books on tape from the library, which makes the ride a welcome time of rest for my younger children and even for me. Besides dance and theater (at Dayspring School of the Arts), my children have taken ice skating, guitar, choir, soccer, basketball, martial arts, art, writing, constitutional law and biology. I have a daughter who is involved in our parish youth group, and the whole family is a part of Catholic Kids Net, a club for Catholic kids. My husband and I lead the club in our parish. I took a year off of most activities recently and it was the most difficult of our homeschooling experience, and very nearly did us in. I think every family is different in its needs and aspirations, but there is one piece of advice I would make so bold as to offer. Be sure to help your homeschooled children to make homeschooled friends, even if they have plenty of other friends. This is easy when they are young but becomes harder as our children mature. The Catholic homeschooling Co-op can be a great help for older students, not only academically, but socially as well.The McCann Family: The McCanns tend to be homebodies in the homeschool group. When my oldest child was six or seven years old, I went to every social event and field trip the Catholic group sponsored and I wondered why mothers I knew with older children almost never attended. Their explanation, about how disruptive leaving the house in the afternoon can be to the whole day’s schedule, didn’t make sense to me. How do a few hours away from home disrupt the whole day’s schedule? I wondered.
But in time, as my own family and homeschooling responsibilities grew, I discovered that I too had become one of these moms. In fact, one of the main reasons we homeschool is so our family time together can be longer and richer (i.e. happier and calmer). Little children forced to spend many afternoons in the back seat of a car aren’t generally peaceful and happy.
Over the years I’ve gleaned a few principles from observing and talking to savvy moms that I try to stick to.
Keep playdays to a minimum. If I catered to all my children’s requests, there would be very little free time for our family to be together. When I do plan a playday, I try for a weekday afternoon, as weekends are when Daddy is home and that is family time.
Find tutors/music teachers, et al. who will come to your house. What a wonderful savings in time, gas, and little children’s patience if you can stay home and get the laundry caught up during music lessons.
Plan on one-stop shopping for all your activities. For example, the Co-op: by leaving the house just one day a week, my children get sports, religious formation (and sometimes confession), academic classes, art, music and dance instruction, and violin lessons for the older children. In one long day, all my children’s homeschooling needs are met – social, academic and sports – and we can stay home the rest of the week.
Never go for just one. One large family told me this rule, and the farther you live from activities the more important in gas and time this becomes.
Last, but not least, keep Sunday for family activities. Daddy never works on Sunday, so he can be with his family. The children need to be with their parents, because we are homeschooling for the sake of our family life, not to improve their social life. It is, however, a great day to entertain—just remember to invite the whole family.
by Evann Duplantier
As I once again fall into the routine of driving to and from my four oldest girls’ weekly dance classes, each on a different day and time, and some twice weekly, I wonder if it’s really worth it. The two oldest are now in their ninth year of classical ballet and Broadway tap. The oldest is beginning her third year “en pointe” and the next in line is beginning her first. They are now the “older girls” at their dance studio.
Well, is it worth it? I think so. There are numerous benefits to long-term dance education. The most obvious benefit is physical. Dance increases muscle tone and flexibility, and improves coordination and posture. But there is much more to dance than just the physical benefits.
Dance teaches discipline. Regular attendance and honest effort are required in order to progress. Ballet and tap require enormous concentration, and students learn to listen attentively and apply themselves mentally as well as physically. Dance education cultivates self-discipline, motivation, and the ability to work in a group. In time, children learn to apply these traits to their own preparation for careers and vocations.
Then, there’s the socializtion aspect. Through their dance classes, my children have been exposed to children from different cultures, races, and religions. They are branching out from our small homeschool world and mixing in positive, realworld situations. This exposure to a vari-ety of personal and social perspectives is a very valuable learning experience.
There’s also the too-often misused word, self-esteem. The dance-class environment increases self-confidence and self-esteem. Dance education introduces children to the basics of theatre and performance. In an enjoyable process, shy children become relaxed and confident in front of a group.
Exposure to any art form is beneficial and the expression of art and creativity comes naturally to children. In dance children find beauty in form, repetition, movement, and coordination.
On a cultural level, dance education offers a variety of benefits. Ballet especially will expose them to classical music. This gained awareness of and appreciation for classical music, as well as many other styles, can inculcate a lifelong love of music. There is also a literary aspect to dance. Classic ballets tell classic stories. We can’t overlook the foreign language benefits either, for most of the terms used in classical ballet are French, but there are linguistic contributions from Italian and Russian as well.
Of course, worthwhile dance education is not limited to ballet and tap. Your family may prefer jazz, lyric, modern, folk, Irish step, or even flamenco. All require hard work and dedication and will result in rewards that will last a lifetime.
Evann Duplantier, homeschooling mother of six, has been taking her girls to dance class for nine years.
by Evann Duplantier
As Catholic homeschoolers, we take every opportunity that presents itself to introduce the saints to our children. But, if you really want to get to know a saint, try spending an entire year with him. We call our homeschool All Saints Academy, and for five years now we have chosen a different patron saint each year. We start the school year by placing a picture of our saint in a prominent place in the schoolroom. Each family member gets the saint’s holy card and medal. We use books, videos, coloring books, and crafts to get to know our new saint, and make a note of their important feast days, prayers, and novenas. We turn everything over to our chosen patron and petition him daily to watch over us and guide us through another homeschool year.
Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16
