You might be surprised how much a basic knowledge of Greek and Latin roots can benefit your child's understanding of the English language. Plus, there's a lot of intriguing history to explore along the way.
"By words the mind is winged." -- Aristophanes, dramatist (c. 448-385 BCE)
Online Resources for Latin Roots
These free online websites are an easy way to introduce Latin and Greek roots to children.
- Root Words, Roots, and Affixes. Download copies of common Greek and Latin roots.
- Searching Out Latin Roots (pdf). Play a connect-four game to match Latin words with sentence pairs.
- Latin and Greek Word Elements. Read a brief description of word elements and the history of Greek and Latin elements, followed by lists of common Greek and Latin word elements.
- Make Greek and Latin Root Notebooks. Download pages made for English from the Roots Up. Use for lapbooks, notebooks, and binders.
- Common Greek and Latin Roots. Print a list of common Greek and Latin prefixes, suffixes, and root words with meanings and examples provided by Michigan State University.
Latin Helps You Learn Romance Languages
Latin learning has gained popularity classical education circles for its broad benefit to language learning and comprehension. As Rachel Schaus stated in her article on learning Latin, "Approximately fifty-percent of English words are derived from Latin." For this reason, Romance languages, which have up to 80-percent Latin-based vocabularies, are much easier to learn once Latin is mastered.
In her review, Minimus, homeschooling parent Elizabeth Yetter, shares her experience in choosing how to introduce her children to Latin and the culture of Roman Britain.
Latin Origin in English
As Thomas Wimmer pointed out in his article on The Latin Influence on English, "English has accumulated an above-average amount of words of Latin origin, but their meanings are not always identical to the ones in related languages." Find out what these words have come to mean in English as compared to other Latin-based and creole languages. Wimmer also discusses how Latin made its way into English via the Church and scientific discourse.
Learning Latin and Greek roots helps children understand the more subtle distinctions of many English words. In addition, they gain an appreciation for the history behind languages and cultures that have been strongly influenced by Roman culture.
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Sara McGrath - Sara is a veteran homeschool mom of three, Usborne consultant, and the author of Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Learning.
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