Admissions / Common Doubts / V of XI

Is my child too young for Latin?

The short answer: Fifth grade is where our first course begins, and children that age often take to Latin more easily than teenagers do.

Latin has a reputation as a subject for serious older students, so the question is natural. The answer is that the youngest students are often the most willing.

A ten-year-old has not yet decided that grammar is boring. She has not learned to be embarrassed by a wrong answer. In Natural Latin, she meets the language the way she met her first one: through a story, read in Latin, with questions asked in Latin and answered in Latin. The grammar comes later, named after it has already been understood. Children of this age are very good at this, and better at it than they will be at fifteen.

Natural Latin takes about two years, at an unhurried pace, and leads into Latin Literature and, eventually, AP Latin. A student who begins in fifth grade can reach the AP exam with years to spare, and spend them in the contests.

We have also taught students younger still. Fifth grade is simply where our group courses begin. If your child is younger and curious, a private tutorial may suit.

Natural Latin, for grades 5 and 6 →

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