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Background

Latin is one of the linch-pins of classical education, and it remains of particular interest among classical homeschoolers.

For good or ill (it does tend to select for the most ambitious students) Latin is almost everywhere thought to be difficult -- the rocket science of the humanities. It is difficult; but like rocket engineering, its reputation is somewhat exaggerated. It is in fact not as difficult for the English-speaker as many other languages, including Greek or any of the eastern Asian languages: its spelling is phonetically regular, its vocabulary is exceedingly small, its use of metaphor is sparing and almost apologetic, and its sentence structures economical. It is a model of analytical order, however, both in its forms and in its syntax, so that learning classical Latin provides not only a grasp of a great world language, but also a path to more disciplined thinking about what we say and how we say it, about meaning, and about the logical analysis of propositions of all sorts. In that sense, it imparts to the student a kind of mental toughness that will support not only other languages but any other discipline the student pursues.

Later, of course, come the more immediately accessible delights of reading Latin literature in its original forms, from the music of Vergil to the nuances of Augustine, and from the dark psychology of Tacitus to the diamond-cutter formulae of Aquinas. These, too, feed back into larger fields of endeavor, but they are worthy goals and enjoyable in and of themselves. Latin remains the official language of the Roman Catholic Church, and the corpus of the Western Church Fathers contains a vast amount of theological and philosophical writing in Latin.

In the narrower arena, Latin has many secondary benefits. From there one can branch out to a variety of Romance Languages, all of which take their more fanciful root in Latin's spare and flinty soil. Latin was the learned language of the whole of the Western culture through at least the first World War; in consequence Latin names and terms are retained in law, in medicine, and in virtually all forms of biological classification; the writings of authors prior to about 1950 are liberally peppered with learned phrases in Latin.

In general, we do not recommend beginning Greek and Latin simultaneously, but it should be possible to begin one one year and a second the next, if the first is going well enough. Those students barely hanging on to Greek, though, should probably not commit themselves to Latin as well until they have the Greek well under control.

Program Overview

Latin instruction and pedagogy remains very diverse, and there are many programs that promise to teach Latin to the younger student. They range from inductive to deductive approaches, and take from four weeks to two or three years to cover the same basic material.

At Scholars Online we are proceeding with a systematic deductive approach to Latin using Frederick Wheelock's venerable text, taking either one year or two, depending on the program path selected. Either way, the course is rigorous and demanding, and should leave the student ready to move on to the reading of Latin prose and poetic authors in the second or third year. The coverage provided in the elementary course is roughly equivalent to two or three years of high school Latin, or a year at the college level. Subsequent author studies proceed from there.

The basic curriculum in Latin runs five years (though with the accelerated elementary program, a student can complete it in four). We will present courses as they are required, depending on enrollment. The Latin curriculum includes both of the AP Latin Courses outlined by the College Board -- Latin IV AP is the Vergil curriculum, while Latin V is the Latin Literature curriculum.

Advanced Latin courses beyond those are available, and have been offered through the eighth year. They are virtually never economically feasible to teach, however, since we seldom have many students remaining at that level: most have already left for college. Accordingly we offer these courses to continuing students who have already worked with us: it is unlikely that we will open a session of Latin VI or VII, or Mediaeval Latin, for a student who has not been with us for several years already.

Our fundamental pedagogical approach is deductive. There is a wide variety of programs, inductive and deductive, but the more traditional deductive model is more conducive to developing those analytical habits of mind that classical language instruction is supposed to provide. The first two years, or one year at the accelerated rate, is equivalent to one year of college Latin, and covers the elements of the language thoroughly. The next year is devoted to expanding reading fluency, using a selection of classical authors including Caesar and Cicero, with a moderate amount from other authors; the fourth and fifth are Advanced Placement courses; after that a variety of options is available, including prose composition and Mediaeval Latin.

Individual courses

We are working with teachers to determine course offerings for 2008. If you would like to see a couse not yet listed, please let the current teacher know, or use the EMAIL US link below to contact Scholars Online Administration with your course request.

After April 1, 2008, course information for 2006 will no longer appear on these pages, but will be available from the student's unofficial transcript, which can be reached from your Account Management Center.

Individual course requirements are being reviewed and updated for the 2007 summer and 2007-2008 academic year.

Theoretical Grammar • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above • [Summer course]

Latin 1A • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 6 or above

Latin 1B • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above

Latin I • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above

Latin II • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 8 or above

Latin III • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 9 or above

Latin IV (Vergil) • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 9 or above

Latin V (Latin Literature) • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 10 or above

Theoretical Grammar • Offering for 2008 • Grade 7 or above • [Summer course]

Latin I • Offering for 2008 • Grade 7 or above

Accelerated Latin I-II • Offering for 2008 • Grade 9 or above