latin education

Why Study Latin?

As the school year gears up, prepare yourself for an inevitable question from the backseat on the way home from school: “Why am I learning Latin?”

I love Cheryl Lowe’s short and sweet case for studying Latin. She writes for The Classical Teacher over at Memoria Press.

Why Study Latin?
by Cheryl Lowe










And then she offers this compelling tidbit:

Need a short answer?
Mean Verbal SAT scores for 2006:

Spanish Students: 577
French Students: 637
German Students: 632
Hebrew Students: 623

Average for all students: 503

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Enchanting Chanting

If you walk down the grammar school hallway at Regents, you will hear a lot of laughter and a lot of singing, repeating, and chanting. Children love to memorize, sing, chant, and repeat. Classical methodology capitalizes on these tendencies and emphasizes them.

Here is the Regents second grade class chanting the elements of design (part of the art curriculum) and the conjugation of the Latin verb “amo.” Also, the Regents third grade class chants the “to be” verb in Latin. Kudos to Mrs. Sowell for her excellent Latin instruction and to Mrs. Ashley Bryant for her creative art instruction.

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Biology Corner: What is the difference between a centipede and a millipede?

Many people think the only difference between a millipede and a centipede is the number of legs. Since the Latin root centi- means one hundred and milli- means one thousand, centipedes must have one hundred legs and millipedes must have one thousand legs, right? Wrong. A centipede doesn’t even have fifty legs, and a millipede has nowhere near one thousand legs. Though, millipedes do have many more legs than centipedes.

There are some other notable differences as well. A centipede is flat and has only one pair of legs per body segment. A millipede is round and has two pairs of legs per body segment. A centipede is aggressive and fierce and is able to immobilize its prey with poisonous claws. A millipede is docile and slow. It eats vegetation and organic debris. And when threatened, it will roll up in a ball and hope its exoskeleton will be enough to protect it.

So, if you see a millipede, you have nothing to fear. But if you see a centipede, give it a wide berth. Its bite is painful to humans, though rarely dangerous.

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Ursa Major and Ursa Minor


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Obsessed with roots? Most definitely!

On February 26, 2010 I heard Bob Costas interviewing Joannie Rochette, who had won the bronze medal in the Olympic women’s figure skating the night before just four days after her mother’s sudden death. He offered his condolences. My mind immediately thought about the roots of that word- com- with + dolēre- to suffer pain (physical or mental.) It is my hope that all the students at Regents Academy of Nacogdoches, TX will learn to see the rich meaning of the vocabulary of our language.

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