Re: Latin vs. Greek / grammar (Classical Sources Message Board)

Re: Latin vs. Greek / grammar
Author: Barbara	June 28, 1999 at 10:16:58
in reply to: Latin vs. Greek / grammar* posted by Paula on June 7, 1999 at 14:40:41*

> I am new to hs and would like to try a classical approach. I am a bit confused about Latin and Greek. Since my boys are 10, 8, 7 and 2, do I start Greek this year and Latin next year with the 2 older boys? Or do I dive right into both languages? Also, where does English grammar fit into this picture? Do I need to be doing Easy Grammar or something with them? Thanks

Hi Paula

There are a couple of ways to go. I'll add my 02 here.
First, if you ever get a chance to really study Rome during
the time of Christ, you will find that most folks wrote and
spoke Greek, not Latin. Latin was NOT the language of
education or administration until much later. Second, a
large chunck of Latin was borrowed from Greek, so if you
teach Greek, Latin is a bit easier later. However, if you
teach Latin, Greek is easier later. In other words..
learning one is an excellent preparation for learning the
other. I choose to start with Greek, because learning a new
alphabet is easier for a young child, and it could be
easily integrated in our regular reading curriculum. Since
I teach a little about the history of each letter when I
teach penmanship, incorporating Greek was quite easy. They
were also a bit motivated, because when I want to write a
note to the older children that I DO NOT want the younger
children to read, I write it in Greek.

Here is what we used (second grade)

1)The Greek Alphabetarian by Harvey Bluedorn. Their website
is at linked to the main CCS page. It is EXCELLENT for
teaching the alphabet, which you probably should count on
spending at least a semester on, so they have complete
mastery. If you decide to use their materials, let me know,
and I can tell you how I used them. It is not consume-able,
so you can re-use it with successive children. I just
ordered their larger curriculum (do the Alphabetarian
first), so I can review it maybe later in the summer.
However, I've heard great things about it... and it is my
understanding that this program is aimed at older children.
They also have a Hebrew alphabetarian, which I have on
order, and a nice alphabet book is also available on their
web site.

2) I made daily penmanship in Greek sheets to accompany the
alphabetarian. The alphabetarian has the templates for you
to do that in the text. I arranged them in a sort of "Math
U See" style, with repetition from prior pages plus a new
letter.

3) I also used the Linquist "English from the Roots Up"
program, from Greenleaf press. All you really need is the
flash cards. I made up a few worksheets to accompany the
set.

There is another curriculum titled GreekNstuff, by Karen Mohs (Hey Andrew Teach me some Greek). From what I've seen from the sample pages, it looks like something you could use with the Bluedorn's stuff on writing the letters. They have a "cutesy" book.. looks fun. I am thinking about using it with my youngest along with the Alphabetarian. They have it set up so you can buy it in affordable "chunks" and it looks like something that can be used with younger children. I haven't used it though, so perhaps someone else can commment.

Personally, I can't see any particular virtue to learning
Greek first versus Latin versus Hebrew. I think many
believe Latin is easier to teach because of the alphabet,
but if you spend some of the formative years on the
Alphabet, Greek is no more difficult to learn. Further,
Greek is the language that at least some of Apostles knew
and wrote in, so it has a much closer link to scripture I
suppose relative to Latin. However, many fine post Biblical
scriptural works were also written in Latin. At the same
time, it is clear that Greek was a language valued by both
Greeks and Romans, and Greek, not Latin, was the language
of much of the world during the time of Christ, so I think
if mine only learn ONE other language, that Greek is it.

For what it is worth, my older children wished they had
learned Greek when they were younger. The younger ones
learned it MUCH easier than the older ones.

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> > I am new to hs and would like to try a classical approach. I am a bit confused about Latin and Greek. Since my boys are 10, 8, 7 and 2, do I start Greek this year and Latin next year with the 2 older boys? Or do I dive right into both languages? Also, where does English grammar fit into this picture? Do I need to be doing Easy Grammar or something with them? Thanks > > Hi Paula > > There are a couple of ways to go. I'll add my 02 here. > First, if you ever get a chance to really study Rome during > the time of Christ, you will find that most folks wrote and > spoke Greek, not Latin. Latin was NOT the language of > education or administration until much later. Second, a > large chunck of Latin was borrowed from Greek, so if you > teach Greek, Latin is a bit easier later. However, if you > teach Latin, Greek is easier later. In other words.. > learning one is an excellent preparation for learning the > other. I choose to start with Greek, because learning a new > alphabet is easier for a young child, and it could be > easily integrated in our regular reading curriculum. Since > I teach a little about the history of each letter when I > teach penmanship, incorporating Greek was quite easy. They > were also a bit motivated, because when I want to write a > note to the older children that I DO NOT want the younger > children to read, I write it in Greek. > > Here is what we used (second grade) > > 1)The Greek Alphabetarian by Harvey Bluedorn. Their website > is at linked to the main CCS page. It is EXCELLENT for > teaching the alphabet, which you probably should count on > spending at least a semester on, so they have complete > mastery. If you decide to use their materials, let me know, > and I can tell you how I used them. It is not consume-able, > so you can re-use it with successive children. I just > ordered their larger curriculum (do the Alphabetarian > first), so I can review it maybe later in the summer. > However, I've heard great things about it... and it is my > understanding that this program is aimed at older children. > They also have a Hebrew alphabetarian, which I have on > order, and a nice alphabet book is also available on their > web site. > > 2) I made daily penmanship in Greek sheets to accompany the > alphabetarian. The alphabetarian has the templates for you > to do that in the text. I arranged them in a sort of "Math > U See" style, with repetition from prior pages plus a new > letter. > > 3) I also used the Linquist "English from the Roots Up" > program, from Greenleaf press. All you really need is the > flash cards. I made up a few worksheets to accompany the > set. > > There is another curriculum titled GreekNstuff, by Karen Mohs (Hey Andrew Teach me some Greek). From what I've seen from the sample pages, it looks like something you could use with the Bluedorn's stuff on writing the letters. They have a "cutesy" book.. looks fun. I am thinking about using it with my youngest along with the Alphabetarian. They have it set up so you can buy it in affordable "chunks" and it looks like something that can be used with younger children. I haven't used it though, so perhaps someone else can commment. > > Personally, I can't see any particular virtue to learning > Greek first versus Latin versus Hebrew. I think many > believe Latin is easier to teach because of the alphabet, > but if you spend some of the formative years on the > Alphabet, Greek is no more difficult to learn. Further, > Greek is the language that at least some of Apostles knew > and wrote in, so it has a much closer link to scripture I > suppose relative to Latin. However, many fine post Biblical > scriptural works were also written in Latin. At the same > time, it is clear that Greek was a language valued by both > Greeks and Romans, and Greek, not Latin, was the language > of much of the world during the time of Christ, so I think > if mine only learn ONE other language, that Greek is it. > > For what it is worth, my older children wished they had > learned Greek when they were younger. The younger ones > learned it MUCH easier than the older ones.
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