A Peek Inside “English from the Roots Up”

Dorothy Sayers says in her essay, The Lost Tools of Learning, that learning Latin cuts the work of learning any other subject in half.

She’s not kidding.  Even with the fifty or so roots my third grader knows, his grasp of science and math terms is so much stronger.  I can’t imagine how easy studying will be as he gets older.  There’s no MEMORIZING the term for things after you know Latin, you just say it in Latin and that’s the term.  Like “heliotroph.”  Wouldn’t you have to memorize that word?  Not him. I show him the word in a science book. He says “turns with the sun.”

“What’s turning with the sun, Mom?”
“Certain plants do, so when you go to say that, just say “turns to the sun” in Latin and that’s the name.”
“Easy.”

We learn three new cards a week.  We review 12 old cards a day.  I am learning SO MUCH LATIN!  So is he.  The front of the cards show the word and the back of the card has it’s definitions and common uses.  We review these three ways:

1)  I set out all twelve cards for the day and announce definitions;he chooses the correct card.
2) I set out all twelve cards for the day and he announces definitions, picking up the cards when I nod that he is correct.
3)  Regular flashcard way

I LOVE these cards.  It’s a beautiful introduction to Latin and he’s already recognizing roots all over the English language.

 

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