Why Study Latin?

When you study Latin, and even more so when you teach it, you will at some point be asked why. Why bother? What is the point, some benighted soul will ask you, of learning a language no one speaks? If they really want to vex you, they might even refer to it as a “dead language.”

And although I’d rather not, even I have to admit that it’s a fair question. I’ll also admit that it always baffles me a little. Not because I can’t think of reasons, no! But because I never know which one to pick first. Usually the people who ask this question want to know what practical benefit I find in Latin. And though I certainly do find practical benefits, those are not the reasons I love Latin, and not the reasons I hope you will, either. Nevertheless, I will lay out these reasons here, in order from most boringly practical to most sublime, and let you judge which you find the most compelling.

First, you may have heard that English is based on Latin. This is not entirely true, as English is a Germanic language, whereas Latin spawned the Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, inter alia). English, however, was heavily influenced by Latin as well as by these Romance languages, so much so that around half our words have Latin origins, including most of the fanciest ones. This means that the study of Latin not only prepares you well to learn many other languages, but it teaches you a great deal about English, as well. This brings us to our most boringly practical reason to learn Latin: Latin students crush their SATs. This is just a fact.

Second, Latin is an ideal vehicle for the study of language itself. At Augustine Classical Academy, our kids learn English grammar through a wonderful grammar curriculum, and that is fantastic. But our kids already know English, which makes the abstract grammatical structures harder for them to see in English, since they use it so intuitively. Latin, on the other hand, is not just unfamiliar, it is highly inflected. This means that it shows grammatical structure through the endings of words and not through the order of the words, as English does. This forces students to think about grammar in a way that is unfamiliar and unintuitive, which assures that they then grasp it in a secure, high-level way.

Third, Latin is important throughout almost the entire history of Western Civilization. Ever since the Romans took charge of the Mediterranean world from the Greeks, Latin has been the language in which the most important conversations in history took place. More of the theology, philosophy, science, math, history, and literature that we study was written in Latin than in any other language. Anyone who wants a scholarly career in those fields will certainly need a knowledge of Latin.

And this brings me to my fourth, and favorite reason for learning Latin. That is the glory of the language itself, and the literature and culture it opens up to those who know it. From classical love poetry, to the high rhetoric of Cicero; from the sermons of Augustine to Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, the Latin language contains much of the most beautiful and profound reading you will ever have the pleasure of doing.

But the barrier to entry into these texts is high. It takes years of study before the typical student can read Latin fluently enough that it constitutes a pleasure rather than a chore. If you have a child in the trenches of Latin-acquisition, it’s possible they might not always feel the labor is worth it. To encourage them, you might tell them how well Latin will help them perform on their college preparatory tests. You might remind them what an excellent grasp of language and grammar they are obtaining, how well they are training their minds, and how well-placed they will be to learn any other Romance language they might wish to learn in the future. These are all very good, very true things. But what I hope to give them, above all, is the feeling of accomplishment and joy that comes when, after years of hard work, the glories of the Latin language and its literature come alive before them.

Love Is a Game-Changer

A look back at 2nd-grade teacher Linda Thigpen's reflections on Valentines Day, teaching, and Christ's love.

As we enter into the most noted month for celebrating love, it got me thinking about ACA and how much love plays a huge part of who we are as a community.  “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.”  1 Corinthians 13:4-8   

At ACA, we are uniquely committed to our students and our families.  We have a rich desire to walk together in this journey called parenting.  Our families are encouraged, prayed for, lifted up by each other and by our staff.  We are a small community united in helping our families to overcome the hard times and challenges that school and life bring our way.  We are not guaranteed easy paths, but together, united in love, we are able to hold each other up through all circumstances.  

This is a particular blessing as a teacher at ACA. Teachers get the opportunity to see love be a “game-changer” everyday in our classrooms. The way our students care for each other is amazing.  When a student is overcome with frustration and dismay, there is always a peer reaching out to them to encourage, pray for, and celebrate their success.  And teachers meet the students where they are!  We pour God's love into them.  We share our personal stories of how God has blessed, guided, and loved us along our journeys.  We want to walk with our students as they travel theirs.

To have the freedom to love my students well, set high academic standards, and pray during class for my students and their families is a treasure.  Our school is small but mighty.  We are blessed by God to have precious families helping each other along this path -- because parenting has days that are very difficult! Our teachers and staff care very much about partnering with our families.  When you are enrolled at our school, you are more than an enrollment number -- you are part of our family.  God equips us with loving hearts and a desire to nurture and assist each family in their needs.

You are not alone in this journey. I pray that this February is a time to thank God for his goodness to us, and for us to continue to live loved.  Love is a “game changer”!

Stuck in Their Heads

Recitation is always an enjoyable experience as we listen to pieces shared by each grade level and see the progression of learning at ACA. As Nate Ahern explained yesterday morning, recitation is a wonderful opportunity to see a snapshot of each level of the trivium, from the Grammar stage where students are memorizing facts to the Rhetoric stage where students are eloquently expressing all that they have learned.

Yesterday when my 1st-graders arrived back in our classroom following recitation, a chorus of little voices exclaimed, “Mrs. Molen, we have the Northern Border States and Capitals song stuck in our heads!”

I smiled. “That's wonderful! That means I’ve done my job!”

The puzzled looks on their faces showed they were not expecting this response, so I explained. 

“Mr. Ahern actually hired me to do just that -- to get things stuck in your heads.”

This responsibility of getting information stuck in my students’ heads excites me. It is such a privilege to have the opportunity daily to see light bulbs come on as my 1st-graders learn new things, and to share in their love of learning. Early in the year, when we were practicing some of our chants, I shared the following story with my students to explain why we continue to review information we have already learned.

“Close your eyes and imagine that we are standing in a huge field with grass taller than you. Now imagine that one of our classmates runs across the field to the other side. Would you be able to see your friend? Would you know how to find him? It would probably be difficult and take a long time to cross the field and find your friend.

Now imagine that one of our classmates runs across the field to the other side followed by all of the kindergarteners, 2nd graders, 3rd graders, 4th graders, 5th graders, 6th graders, and upper-schoolers. Imagine that all of your moms and dads and brothers and sisters also follow him to the other side. Would you know how to find him now? What do you think would happen to that tall grass after all of these people followed the same path to the other side? The grass would be flattened. It would be simple and quick to run across the field to your friend.

When we memorize chants, jingles, and songs and review them over and over, we are doing the same thing. We are creating pathways in our brains which make it simple and quick for us to remember information we have learned.”

Whether we are learning the states and capitals, the characteristics of mammals and birds, the definition of a preposition, a passage from Scripture, the doubles addition math facts, or the silent final E spelling rules, repetition helps us create those pathways in our brains so we can easily and quickly recall information. This becomes the basis for higher-level learning as students build on that information by asking hard questions and making connections later on.

That's my job, and it's a beautiful one. To get knowledge stuck in their heads.

Guidance Now, Independence Later

I'd like to share with you a fragment of forgotten lore I found buried under the hills. Here it is.

Kids are like puppies.

This is true of preschoolers and high-schoolers, and every flavor of child in between. Kids are all like puppies one way or another, some small and cuddly, others large and kind of dumb. What I want to talk about is not that they are puppies and not that we should treat them like puppies, but given that they sure are a lot like puppies, what does that mean for us as parents? In short, it means that sometimes we have to take them by the scruff of their necks.

Example: You've just dropped $1,000 and brought home a puppy from the breeder. It's just about the most darling thing you ever saw. The next day, you begin to train it. You set it out in the front yard, sans leash, and say, "Good boy, now make wise choices. Don't go in the street." 30 seconds later, full of youthful puppiness, it chases the FedEx truck and goes to heaven.

Now that was a bad dog owner. ("Bad dog owner!") What it needed was a leash, a fenced backyard, patience and love, and enforced instructions. Any old dog owner knows that. To get a well-trained dog that makes good choices on its own, you begin by making it do the right thing yourself. Scruff of the neck, and so forth.

Kids are like puppies. We are preparing them for independence, but they are not independent yet. We begin by requiring obedience all the time. We make them do their homework, whether it is fun or not fun. We require them to be respectful and have good personal habits. Then, as time goes on and they approach college, we gradually reduce the decisions we make for them and let them make more of their own. While young, they've been required to buckle down and do hard things, and so now, they're rewarded with well-earned freedoms.

Unfortunately, we sometimes get this backwards. We give children choices when they are far too young with far too little will power, and then when they are older and can do stupid things with cars and girls, we begin barking orders and cracking whips. Then, we wonder why they just squeeze by in college and never call home and visit on the holidays. We are very perplexed.

Kindergarten Is A Grade Level, Too

Too often I hear people describe kindergarten with the misconception that all students do in kindergarten is play and take a nap. In some schools you may find a place where that misconception isn’t too far off. But here at Augustine Classical Academy, that is far from the truth. Kindergarten is the first step in the grammar phase of the Trivium, and it is an important step in laying a solid foundation for success in the Trivium's later stages of logic and rhetoric.

Kindergarten is an important grade and a big step in a young child’s life. Students are not only going to school to learn academics but to also develop social and emotional skills that are just as important as learning to read and write. At the beginning of the year, my job involves a lot -- and I do mean a lot -- of patience! Everything is new to kindergarteners.  They are thrown into this big new school in which they will be expected to advocate for themselves, walk in line, learn numerous routines and procedures, listen and raise their hand, and much more. During the first few weeks of Kindergarten, I spend a lot of time repeating myself and working more on social and emotional development than anything else. These are such key components to their development and overall success throughout the year! Because of this, Kindergarten gives your child a safe place to mature and grow during their natural development as a child, while also being challenged academically. These skills will be developing throughout the entire year, and you will notice a drastic difference between a kindergartener during the first semester versus what a kindergartener is like the second semester. For example, they are maturing, are more independent, and are able to handle their own social and emotional skills at a much higher degree.

I believe ACA stands out as an exemplary school because we do take great pride in the development of our students during the grammar phase. The value of routine, structure, and rigor is what sets our kindergarten program apart from those which believe kindergarten is simply a place where kids go to play. I do want you to know that in saying this, I also know the importance of allowing children to play and be able to use their imaginations freely. That is also very important in their development. After their work is done, I get to spend my afternoons listening to their brilliant creativity in dramatic play scenarios, or seeing their imaginations run wild while exploring with math manipulatives, or through creative art. I believe that because of ACA's rigor and high expectations for them, their imaginations have been given a foundation from which to fuel their own creativity.

I will end by saying that I believe the most beautiful part of being a kindergartener at ACA is that they get to grow and develop while also learning about the love of Christ. It is so beautiful to be able to pray with children, listen to them pray, study God’s word, and play a part in raising them with the standards God sets for our lives. I absolutely would not trade this job for the world! Yes, it takes a lot of patience, repetition, and time, but to be able to influence the lives of such young children, and to be a role model for what Christ is like, is something that I will never take for granted.

Seeing God in Music

With the coming of the New Year, renewed fervor and resolution abound!  This is the year we’re going to read those books, run that marathon, learn that skill, defeat that bad habit.  These are all admirable goals which (with the exception of the marathon), I would love to have on my year-end “Did It” list.  But as I think about all that could be accomplished and what I really want for myself and my students, one main thought keeps coming back to me—to see more of God in the world He has created and in all that we study each week.  This goal seems to fit well within the subjects of Bible, history, and logic.  But how does it apply to teaching the fine arts?  To be specific—how can we be God-centered when studying music?
 
There are many different ways.  First, the glory of God can be seen through the reflection of His character in music.  One of the reasons I love music is because of the order, symmetry, and precision that it innately possesses within its staves.  Like in reading, each note relates directly to the next to form one continuous line or phrase that fits into the larger whole of the piece.  Nuances of color are created by variations in speed (tempo), volume (dynamics), and even how the music is played (articulation). Each of these elements works together to create the masterpiece that was in the mind of the composer when he sat down to pen the notes of his score.  This mirrors our God, who is a God of order and beauty—working all things perfectly together according to His plan and purpose for His people.
 
Second, the spiritual lives of great composers are cause for consideration.  Men like Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel exemplify lives that were lived to the glory of God—with countless scores composed for use in church and worship settings.  Bach was especially noted for his sincere faith, and he frequently initialed his blank manuscripts with the marking “J.J.” (Jesu Juva—“Help me, Jesus”) and “S.D.G.” (Soli Deo Gloria—“To God alone be the glory”) at the end of his manuscripts. But what about men like Ludwig van Beethoven and Frederic Chopin, whose spiritual journeys followed a different and often troubled path? In the midst of brokenness, God gives grace and giftedness, so that even though they did not immediately intend for it to, their music still reflects the character of God.  God works redemptively through broken and hurting people to bring forth beauty in their creative endeavors.
 
Finally, in looking to God within the staves of the music we study, we are reminded that God is the ultimate composer of the symphony of our lives and of the universe.  Sometimes we see His hand at work, providing exactly what we need just when we need it.  At other times, we can’t see His hand as clearly.  Just as there is variance in mood and tone in music, so too our lives are comprised of dissonant and dark tones as well as bright and joyful notes.  All of these are necessary to shape our character and fulfill His eternal plans.  Whatever our circumstances in life, this truth remains—God is on His throne, and He will accomplish His purposes.  Therefore in each day and in whatever we are learning or doing, let us resolve in 2017 to "fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).

2017-18 Tuition Rates

Good news! For the upcoming 2017-18 academic year, tuition rates for all ACA programs (ACP-12th)will not be raised. 

As a component of our business strategy to provide high-quality teachers, small class sizes, and competitive rates, ACA tuition has historically increased 3-5% each year. However, we’re pleased to provide this year of rest and to thank each of you for the continued honor of educating your children. ACA was founded with a commitment to affordability and wise use of resources, and this decision is an excellent example of that commitment. 

God continues to bless ACA steadily, and as we reflect on this Christmas season and the upcoming academic year, let’s remember the important goals we share for our children via the AugustineCampaign and our current Fall 2016 Matching Grant Challenge. Our vision for education is high, and it takes continued robust funding. Would you consider those friends and family members with shared vision who would be interested in helping us meet our rigorous financial goals? To educate the next generation of children for the glory of God and the good of all people, we need tangible gifts from people just like you. 

Thank you for loving your children and supporting ACA so well. May God bless each of you richly this Christmas season.

Developing Gratitude

From Rob Gove, upper school logic and omnibus instructor:

As we head into our Thanksgiving break, I would like to reflect on cultivating the virtue of gratitude in our students, a virtue not just for this coming Thursday, but for every day of the year.

While we all likely have some definition of gratitude (such as "being thankful for the good things in our lives"), it is not necessarily easy to teach our children to practice this virtue. I would like to suggest a few ways we can do this.

As Aristotle explains in his Nicomachean Ethics (which our Omnibus IV students will be reading soon), all virtues are habits, and we develop virtues by repeatedly doing them until they become habitual and automatic. 

So what acts can our students do repeatedly to develop the virtue of gratitude? I propose three: 1) maintaining a cheerful attitude, 2) understanding for what we should be grateful, and 3) giving frequent prayers of thanks. First, we can encourage our students to be cheerful by having a sunny, positive disposition ourselves, by showing them that we enjoy our work, and by encouraging them to do the same. A simple smile directed at a complaining student can go a long way! Second, we need to remind students they should be grateful to God for everything in our lives: even when it seems like something is simply painful, sad, difficult, or "boring", students should be reminded that God loves us and directs all of this for our good. Finally, students need to pray, and they need to pray in thanks. In my classroom, students lead prayer at the beginning of each class. In addition to asking God for help, they almost always thank Him for each other, for the opportunity to come to school and learn, and for all our blessings. It is truly wonderful to hear.

Let's all be grateful this Thanksgiving, and let's help our children to do the same.