Ancient Greek For Young Students
I think languages are really important, so I am including not one, but two languages in our homeschool this year. My children are learning one modern language (French) and one classical language (Greek).
Why Learn a Second Language?
A future post will talk more about this, but in a nutshell, languages are great for brain development. Learning a second language can improve test scores. And languages are great for introducing new cultures and broadening student’s horizons. One of the main reasons I want my children to learn other languages is to open the world to them and give them broad career options.
Why Greek?
Language choices are unique for each family. I won’t suggest languages that I think everyone should learn, because everyone’s situation is different. We had already decided to learn French, since it’s one of the official languages here in Canada. I wanted to do a classical language as well, such as Latin or Greek. Latin is quite similar to French, so I thought it might be too confusing, and chose Greek instead. Greek is beneficial because it will allow them to read the New Testament and influential works like The Odyssey, works by Herodotus, and Plato in the original language. It’s also a fun language to learn because it has a different alphabet.
Why Start Young?
We started French in Kindergarten, and we are starting Ancient Greek in Grade 1. Why start so young? I plan to talk more about this in a future blog post, the short answer is because kids brains are better wired to learn languages when they are young. They find it much easier to pick up new vocabulary. I wanted to give them their best chance to pick up the language by starting young.
Because we are starting young, there are very limited resources available to teach them Greek. Most Greek programs are aimed at teaching secondary students and many that are aimed at elementary students usually begin by teaching students how to read in Greek. Since younger children either can’t read yet, or are still building confidence in reading I think it is best to use an oral approach.
So, after scouring the internet for resources, Here are the resources that I chose to use this year to teach Greek.
The Greek Resources I’m Using This Year
Song School Greek
Song School Greek is a program from Classical Academic Press. It includes a workbook with CD, a teacher’s book and Greek Beak Match flashcards. I chose to purchase only the workbook with the CD when I bought the program. It’s pretty simple to implement, and doesn’t assume that the teacher knows Greek. Each chapter introduces new vocabulary and a letter of the Greek alphabet. I also found some coloring pages for the vocabulary words and Greek letters that can be downloaded for free from their website (they can be found under the support tab here), which my kids like. I often use them as flashcards to review the vocabulary.
My kids really like Song School Greek. They often sing the songs throughout the day. The program is pretty simple to implement and doesn’t assume that the teacher knows any Greek. It has a song and some activities for each chapter to help students learn the vocabulary. Many of the activities are oral, but a few are written. Each chapter also introduces a letter of the Greek alphabet. Since my children still aren’t fluent in reading and writing English I introduce the Greek alphabet, but don’t expect them to do any activities involving reading or writing Greek.
Alpha with Angela
Alpha with Angela is a fantastic program. And it’s great for all ages! I appreciate it as much as my children do. The lessons are free on YouTube. Angela only speaks Greek. She names items using only simple sentences and phrases. As the lessons progress, she adds simple grammar concepts like gender, still only speaking Greek. No Greek ability is needed to use this program, just turn on the YouTube videos. We watch each video together a few days in a row before we move on to the next one.
In the Beginning: A Child’s Beginner Book of Biblical Greek
In the Beginning: A Child’s Beginner Book of Biblical Greek is another free resource. The PDF is free to download from Lingua Deo Gloria, or you can buy a print book from Amazon. It is a picture book introducing Greek vocabulary. However, you do need to be able to read Greek to use this. We haven’t started using it yet, but we plan to use it later this year, when I can read Greek a bit better. I currently have a printed version of the PDF, but I hope to get a print version later this year.
A Final Word
As you can see, there are some great resources available for young learners. It’s easy to introduce ancient Greek to young children in your homeschool. Our Greek lessons mainly involve reviewing some vocabulary using the Song School Greek coloring pages, listening to some of the songs, and watching an episode of Alpha with Angela. It only takes us about 20 minutes a day.
