:: St. Stephen's Musings ::

:: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 ::

Open House at Agia Sophia

Last night Agia Sophia Academy held an open house to formally introduce the staff to the parents.

As the only teacher without a Bachelor's or a Master's Degree or previous teaching experience in the elementary grades, I have felt a little out of place. Of course, as my wife reminded me, Jesus didn't choose the Ph.D.'s and experts of the day to be his disciples and future teachers in the faith; he choose people who loved Him, prepared to do His work and ready to accept the challenge. Let it true in this case as well.

After the opening introductions and speeches, I spent the evening answering questions about the Latin curriculum and getting to know the parents. I echoed sentiments expressed by Dorothy Sayers when she wrote,

"I will say at once, quite firmly, that the best grounding for education is Latin grammar. I say this not because Latin is traditional and medieval, but simply because even a rudimentary knowledge of Latin cuts down the labor and pains of learning almost any other subject by at least 50 percent."

The benefits of studying Latin are well documented. Even if the students have trouble retaining the language itself, the skills they learn should serve them well and should provide the foundation they need for language work they will do in future stages of the Trivium.

:: Karl :: 7:41:00 AM [Link] ::