Latin & Math, fun buddies to help form the mind

I just love how this apologetic article on Latin (and math) is expressed.  Our teaching Latin throughout our home schooling often meets with a furled brow, "why ever for?"   There are SO many good reasons other than it is part of classical studies.  And I can not tell you how enjoyable it is to do Latin with my children.  From the primary grades to the high school ones.  It is probably one of my greatest joys of home schooling.  And I am no Latin expert; (but good materials/resources help take care of that), but my love for substance, depth, analysis, decoding, and good formation, seem to come to fruition in Latin. It just makes sense!  I encourage every one to consider Latin.  There are so many good beginning programs available.  You can start out easy and basic, and and continue to gently build each year. Continuing Latin study throughout the regular course of schooling for many years, creates and forms an informs the mind like nothing else.  A very noble pursuit.

--excerpt from: An Apology for Latin and Math

"Latin develops and enlarges the mind to a far greater degree than math and brings the necessary balance to the curriculum. The study of Latin is a complete education in that it develops the intellectual powers of the mind and, at the same time, develops English language skills far more effectively than English grammar, thus achieving the two most important goals of education at the same time.

Latin, like math, gives the student the experience of studying one subject to a mastery level. This is what is missing in modern education, where we try to teach everything and we cover too many subjects too superficially. The student is always on the surface, always a beginner, just stuffing in a lot of unrelated facts. There are few opportunities to use higher order thinking skills when you are merely a novice. It is only when the student has studied a subject enough to have some depth that his mind can be stretched and challenged with higher order thinking skills. Latin and math give students the invaluable experience of studying one systematic subject to a mastery level over a long period of time, K-12 and beyond. This is a key to mental and character development and is the most valuable academic experience a child can have in school.

Latin and math, when taught to a mastery level, teach the student how to climb the mountain of learning. And if a student climbs one mountain, he knows what it takes to get to the top, and he will be prepared to climb all of the mountains that he will meet in life."