Liberty Distinctive #2:
Latin
Latin - A dead language or the foundation for a wider, deeper engagement with the world around us? Why we teach Latin at Liberty Classical Academy.
The English Language
More than half of the English language has its foundations in Latin. Thousands of our words are constructed from just a handful of Latin roots. And even beyond the actual words and vocabulary, Latin's conjugation structure is also the foundation and framework for the English counterpart. Latin is the framework and prac- tical guide to understanding the language we speak, and providing the structure, context, and foundations for the way we communicate ideas.
Improved Academic Performance and Better Thinking
There is no shortage of studies and resources to point to the benefits of Latin when it comes to performance on standardized tests and assessments. And academic readiness is demonstrated in many ways, from one's ability to retain and recall data to one's capacity for processing information and applying it critically to decision making. Latin's complex systems of conjugation and declension actually engage higher-order thinking processes, such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Some have even equated Latin's ability to organize language to the equations that mathematics uses to organize and compartmentalize concepts and problems. Latin's structure and system provides a logical, sequenced order to language and reason.
If we want to build people who can think critically, we have to equip them with the tools to do that and Latin is one of the key tools!
Far From Being a Dead Language
Latin serves as the foundation for much of our speaking and thinking. It serves as the framework for learning as well as the system for processing, evaluating, and communicating. That's why Latin is a unique-and essential-component of a Liberty Classical Academy education. Latin lives on through English and all other romance languages, thus helping our students more easily learn and understand romance languages like Spanish and French, languages which students take in the Upper School at Liberty.
The Results: Building Lives That Inspire
Ultimately, the value of a Liberty education is revealed over the course of a lifetime. It's in standardized test scores like the ACT, SAT, and CLT, where our students are consistently high above state and national averages. It's in the way you see a student able to speak clearly and articulately and engage socially. It's in the words we hear from graduates about how they entered the world prepared for what was next regardless of what career they chose, whether it be science, medicine, engineering, or education.
We are committed to the Classical model for education because we are committed to the cultivation of wisdom and virtue in the hearts, minds, and lives of our students. We are committed to making education, as William Butler Yeats put it, not a bucket we fill but a fire we start. The Classical method for learning meets students where they're at and gives them the tools they need to understand and interact with truth. Ultimately, we're equipping students for a world in desperate need of things that are True, Good, and Beautiful.