Hello Everone!  I've been homeschooling for a year now, but I'm just now "shopping" for a support group to join.  So I'm here to find out more about this one.  And I guess to start, I'll tell you a little about me.

I'm homeschooling my only daughter, who is turning 6 this month.  We did a casual pre-K last year, and are doing Kindergarten this year.  My goal is to give her a Classical Education, using Climbing Parnassus as my inspiration, and the LatinClassicalEd Yahoo Group and The Well-Trained Mind as my guides. This year, our main focus is RightStart Math and Spell to Write and Read.  Next year we'll add Latin.  Another priority is poetry and literature study.  Everything else we take pretty casually (a laid-back Charlotte Mason style approach to Science, for example.)

I guess that's about it for now, and I look forward to learning more about this group!

Thanks,
Gretchen

Hi!  I am "into" classical-influenced-eclectic homeschooling, too.  I'm really big on um, most things.  

I'm neither strongly for curricula nor adamantly against them--it depends upon the subject and what is available.

Hi there, Gretchen! Nice to meet you. I love languages, and classical Latin & Greek were my favorites. I wish I could get my kids more interested in them, because (among other things) they're wonderful for the vocabulary. Were you going to do a full course in Latin, or just roots?

If you want to find out more about the co-op, we have an email address & phone number on the web site home page. The co-op has tons of kids from babies to about 7-8 years old, and a few older than that. Also lots of activities!

Hope to meet you soon.

Hi, thank you both for your replies!  Elizabeth, sounds like you are several big steps ahead of me if you have experience with Latin and Greek.  I have NONE!  It's rather a frightening prospect at times to be trying to give my dd a Classical Education, when I received a second-rate public-school education myself.  So this year, I'm trying to teach myself some Latin, and next year, I'll start teaching her.  We'll definitely do a full-blown Latin course, not just a roots program.  The goal is to have her reading and translating Latin lit and poetry in high school.  That goal scares me, LOL!  But I'm just trying to take it one step at a time.

Yes, I'm definitely interested in finding out more about the co-op, so I'll go check out that email address and phone number you mentioned.  Thanks!

I didn't get to study Latin & Greek until college; my secondary education was in a rural area where most people didn't go to college. Even having studied them, I much prefer reading classical literature in translation, so what I really took away from the study of classical languages was (a) an enjoyment and appreciation of grammar, weird, I know, and (b) a knowledge of roots -- and that's been really useful to me. Probably would have been more useful if I were a doctor or lawyer, though. I'll guess I'll just do roots with my kids, unless they turn out odd like me and want to study languages for their grammar.

Welcome to the board Gretchen.  I am amazed with the high goals that you have already set for your little one.  I have twins that just turned 5 and nothing is certain with us.  I am still debating the phonics system/program to use with them.  Of course we are very eclectic homeschoolers and use whatever seems to fit us best at the time.  Best of luck with finding a group that best fits your needs.  I am also a member of the Albuquerque Homeschool Co-op and highly recommend this group.  One of the best things about it is there are many different types of homeschoolers in the group and we get along and everyone contributes their differences to the group.

Hey, if you decide to use Latin's Not So Tough, tell me how it goes!  I'm interested in it.  It's appropriate for the K level starting with Level 1.  First graders whould start with Level 2 and above that Level 3.  (There's review.)  

You might want to start with the Sattler Latin tapes even this year--they give conjugation and declension chants.  That way, the child knows them cold before she has to use them.  Makes learning more painless.

Quoted from admin, posted October 3, 2005, 4:50pm at here

so what I really took away from the study of classical languages was (a) an enjoyment and appreciation of grammar, weird, I know,

Not weird at all!  In fact, that's very encouraging!  That's one of the many good arguments I've read for Latin instruction -- that there is no better way to grasp and appreciate English grammar than by contrasting it with that of Latin.

Quoted Text

and (b) a knowledge of roots -- and that's been really useful to me. Probably would have been more useful if I were a doctor or lawyer, though.

I'm sure you've heard that argument for Latin instruction as well:  that half of English vocabulary comes from Latin;  and it's not just any half, it's the HARD half!    My degree is in Zoology, and a knowledge of Latin roots would have been really helpful in understanding and remembering species names.  We're going to be doing a Charlotte Mason style Nature Study, so I think it will be fun for her to record the scientific names of the species in her Nature Journal, and start putting her Latin to use right away.  

Hi LadyJess!  I guess for me, the goals were the easy part (because I knew what I wanted from my own education that I didn't get, and because Climbing Parnassus was so inspirational to me), but seeing the steps needed to get there isn't as easy!

You mentioned that you're investigating phonics systems, so I thought I'd mention what I chose.  I am very very happy with Spell to Write and Read.  I attended a seminar this summer, and learned so much about it, and really gained confidence.  And it is working so well with my daughter.  It's a multi-sensory approach, so I think it can work for most learning styles.  Here's a webpage about it that, after hearing other parents raving, really convinced me to give a try.  Hope you will find it helpful.  
http://home.mindspring.com/~teachingkids/id27.html

Thanks for the encouragement regarding the co-op.  It sounds wonderful!

Genevieve, thanks for mentioning the Satller Latin tapes!  I hadn't heard of those before, but it sounds like a really fun way to get her introduced to Latin.  

I'm just now in the process of researching Latin curriculum possibilities.  I have a list, and I'm just slowly eliminating one at a time.  Latin's Not So Tough is still on my list!  I'll definitely let you know what I decide and how it goes.

I will look into that Gretchen.  I have looked into Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons, Starfall and Tampa Reads.  So far, they all have benefits and downfalls.   I think 100 easy lessons is the best at doing the phonics, but it does not seem to get my boys' attention.  I don't know if that is just as a result of their age and maturity, or if that will continue to be true.  They really want to learn how to read and they like the Starfall lessons online, but by what I can tell Starfall uses a phonics/whole language combo and I want them to have a strong phonics background.

As far as foreign languages go, my daughter is enjoying doing the Spanish lessons through Rosetta Stone.  I am pretty sure they have Latin as well.  We use Rosetta Stone free online through the library.  If they have Latin, which I think they do, it would also be available that way.  I just wanted to mention that in case you are interested in Rosetta Stone.  It is a wonderful program.  One of our friends came over and was using it for Hebrew the other day.  He was really impressed.

Matin Latin is aimed for kids a little older but seems to be a huge favorite for moms with no Latin experinece, too, btw.  

Chosing a phonics program is tough.  There are SO many out there, and you feel like, well what's more important than teaching your child to read?  So it's really hard to decide!  Was for me, anyway.  I went through three different programs before settling on SWR!  But I have to say now that I think it's the best of the best.

I just found out about the free Rosetta Stone lessons via our Library here on these boards a couple days ago!  I did the first Latin lesson myself.  I think it's great -- it's going to be a good way for me to get started.  But I think of their approach as being ideal for modern languages, where conversation is the goal.  For my dd, the reasons I am teaching her Latin are for grammar mastery, and to be able to read Latin literature and poetry.  So I'm just not sure which program will best accomplish those goals.  I'm not saying I've eliminated the possibility of Rosetta.  Just that I'm still researching!

Quoted from Genevieve, posted October 4, 2005, 4:30pm at here

Matin Latin is aimed for kids a little older but seems to be a huge favorite for moms with no Latin experinece, too, btw.  

I've heard some good things about this program -- mainly that it gets kids to a point where they can translate Latin sentences faster than some other programs.  Translation is one of the big goals, so it's definitely on my keeper list.

You know, I think I might start a whole new thread on Latin Curriculum and see what people here are using.  It might be nice if I could eventually hook up with another parent teaching Latin, check out what resources they're using, compare notes, etc.