The Lukeion Project Latin Program
Nescire autem quid antequam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum.
To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. "
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
Learning Latin or Greek is well worth the effort. Classics majors have a higher GPA at the college level and have accelerated performance in nearly all other subjects such as math, music and history. This makes them appealing as first choices for law and medical schools as well as all degree programs in the humanities. While there are advantages to mastering any language, Classical languages pay the highest dividends. There are many modern studies on the rewards these languages offer those who master them. Benefits include English excellence, linguistic brilliance (the ability to quickly master additional languages), plus an increasingly analytical and logical mind. "Employers highly value what humanities majors learn in college, focus groups and surveys show. More than nine out of 10 say a job candidate’s capacity for thinking and communicating clearly and solving complex problems is more important than his or her major," [source and source]. Building brain power and linguistic intelligence are fantastic side-effects of Latin and Greek, but the main benefit is the ability to read, enjoy, and appreciate the literature of the Greeks and Romans. Questions of good & evil, valor & cowardice, democracy & tyranny, and the basics of a good moral compass are all explored deeply by Classical authors. "Classics teaches students not only how to think, but also what is important in life to think about" [source]. A background in the Classics is more relevant than ever.
"Loving it all. Well done on your excellent methodology and skillful teaching. Definitely a mastery-based approach!" - 2018 Lukeion parent
"I wanted to let you know that I went to tour St. John's college (a really cool great books school) and sat in on one of their classes on Greek. Thanks to your teaching and hard work, I was able to follow the discussion, understand all their mythological references, and understand references to "Greek Middles." When the students were discussing grammar constructions or the lack of articles, it suddenly clicked why I write all these essays: they help me to think analytically, not only helping to succeed in college, but also how to approach all texts for the rest of my life. It was such a cool moment to realize why I've been working hard all these years on Latin, pushing through even when I didn't emotionally want to. It's totally worth it, and I'm glad I'll be prepared for college level texts." - 2022 student
Also read: "Why Study Latin?"
Also read: "What Hath STEM to do with Classics?" from the CLT journal, written by one of our advanced Latin/Greek students who plans to apply his love of ancient languages to his love of science!
"I wanted to write and let you know that "E" loves your class and the experience is changing her in ways that were unexpected. "E" is in 8th grade and this year she is taking over her schooling and needs much less guidance from me - I think a lot of that has to do with the structure of her Latin work. I really appreciate the strong form you have with the class. "E" is learning much about herself, how her brain works, etc. She loves the
puzzles that translation offers, she loves the logic of Latin, and she loves doing something her brother can not do!! Every week she looks forward to her work, the challenge, and the sense of accomplishment from completing her work. Thank you so much for being such a fabulous teacher for her." - Lukeion parent
"Loving it all. Well done on your excellent methodology and skillful teaching. Definitely a mastery-based approach!" - 2018 Lukeion parent
"I wanted to let you know that I went to tour St. John's college (a really cool great books school) and sat in on one of their classes on Greek. Thanks to your teaching and hard work, I was able to follow the discussion, understand all their mythological references, and understand references to "Greek Middles." When the students were discussing grammar constructions or the lack of articles, it suddenly clicked why I write all these essays: they help me to think analytically, not only helping to succeed in college, but also how to approach all texts for the rest of my life. It was such a cool moment to realize why I've been working hard all these years on Latin, pushing through even when I didn't emotionally want to. It's totally worth it, and I'm glad I'll be prepared for college level texts." - 2022 student
Also read: "Why Study Latin?"
Also read: "What Hath STEM to do with Classics?" from the CLT journal, written by one of our advanced Latin/Greek students who plans to apply his love of ancient languages to his love of science!
"I wanted to write and let you know that "E" loves your class and the experience is changing her in ways that were unexpected. "E" is in 8th grade and this year she is taking over her schooling and needs much less guidance from me - I think a lot of that has to do with the structure of her Latin work. I really appreciate the strong form you have with the class. "E" is learning much about herself, how her brain works, etc. She loves the
puzzles that translation offers, she loves the logic of Latin, and she loves doing something her brother can not do!! Every week she looks forward to her work, the challenge, and the sense of accomplishment from completing her work. Thank you so much for being such a fabulous teacher for her." - Lukeion parent
Why Take Latin with The Lukeion Project?
START HERE: Why Learn Latin or Greek with The Lukeion Project?
There are many language products on the market targeting home educators. Most of these are designed for teachers (usually mom or dad) who have little experience with a Classical language and no time to master one. While this sounds like an appealing feature, the end result is, too often, years of busy work with no appreciable gains in language skills. After hours of drills, chants and worksheets, many students have no idea how to use a dative, subjunctive, or participle. Two or three years in drill-focused programs often provide learners no more than a couple month’s head start over peers who have had no Latin at all. Through our live online program, a skilled Latin teacher is now available at a student's own home.
When The Lukeion Project was founded in 2005, all our students were home educated. Since then we have attracted students from around the globe and from a wide variety of educational circumstances. All of our college-preparatory/mastery-based Latin courses are taught by credentialed educators with years of experience. Many students from brick-and-mortar schools are joining our classes either as an enrichment or as a cooperative addition to a student's academic program. Many adults, especially from medical, scientific, and legal fields, are joining us as well.
"I took Latin I-V with you a few years ago, and I am now almost done with my first semester at the University of Dallas. I would like to thank you for being my Latin teacher in middle and high school--you provided me with a very solid understanding of the language. I'm sure a lot of your former students say this, but thank you for the writing assignments. The analysis skills you taught us in AP Latin and developed in Latin V have been tremendously helpful, and not only as I was writing the semester paper for my Latin class. My English professor appreciated that I came into the semester able to write clear, concise prose, and that I knew how to analyze texts rather than summarizing them. Anyways, thank you again."
Educational pace & WHY we recommend national exams
Our Latin program is geared for those working at high school level and above. Much younger gifted students working at those levels can join us though, elsewhere, their age normally prohibits them. At The Lukeion Project, students take the National Latin Exam each corresponding year. This is our first level of quality control assurance to students and parents that they are mastering Latin rather than playing at it to keep busy. Likewise, the NLE is proof positive to everyone who evaluates a student's transcript in the future that he or she is completing Latin with a high level of competence. After 2nd or 3rd year Latin, students are also ready for the SAT Latin special subject test or Latin CLEP. In their 4th year they are ready to try out AP Latin and take the AP Latin exam in May to win two years (usually 16 credits) of college language credits (consult your intended institution for specifics). Success on these exams can mean greatly improved admission rates to colleges, scholarship money, and hundreds of dollars saved by testing out of college language courses.
There are many popular and expensive programs out there that won't come close to preparing your student for any of these things. If you are considering another Latin program that does not prepare a student for AP Latin in their fourth year, please choose a different approach. All national and college exams are based on the Classical languages, not on later Latin and medieval forms nor on the greatly simplified "teacher friendly" approaches on the market. At the Lukeion Project we focus on Golden Latin which will enable the student to read the full range of Latin readings. Any student who successfully completes 2 or more years of Latin at The Lukeion Project should be able to test out of some portion (if not all) of college language requirements at college or university institutions that offer Latin. For those who plan to pursue Latin as a college major, this means students begin their college Latin experience with upper level seminars (200-300 level) starting at day 1.
Recent note to one of our upper level Latin students from the Chair at a Classics department where she has gained permission to take classes as a high schooler:
"Dear {M.], Those are excellent (AP Latin and SAT Latin) scores! ... Your studies sound very similar to the training we would provide at UNC, so it should be an easy transition for you. It sounds to me like you are ideally suited to take LAT 221 or 223 in the fall. We are also offering a course at a higher level, LATN 331 Roman Historians. If that subject is of particular interest to you, you might want to try it. I think you would be able to do the work, but it would certainly be more challenging than 221 or 223 (300 level courses have, in general, twice the reading assignments of 200 level courses). Very few entering first-year students start in 300 level courses (maybe one every three or four years), but it is an option." [Update: this Lukeion Student was happily accepted into this highly competitive Classics Program for the 2019 Autumn semester]
What we do in our Latin program
Our Latin program is geared for those working at high school level and above. *Wheelock's Latin has been perfected through the years to combine a heavy emphasis on tools and grammar plus the opportunity to read real Latin beginning with the first chapter. This textbook is grammar-focused and gives the student all the tools he or she needs to read Latin. Students should start this high school level course around age 14 or 15 (gifted students are ready sooner). It is best to wait until formal reasoning and executive function mature, something called the LOGIC stage in the trivium/Classical education. Students who successfully complete Latin 1 starting at age 15 will have plenty of time to complete AP Latin in their senior year. Students who start Latin even younger now have several options beyond the AP Level.
We now offer an optional bridge year between Latin year 2 & 3. Students who would prefer to review and reinforce their grammar & vocabulary plus gain more translation experience before starting our Latin 3 Survey course may now participation in our Transition courses (1 year course, primus & secundus). Students who join us from other Latin programs may find that jumping into Transition Secundus will reinforce ablative absolute, indirect statement, and then supply all the subjunctive clauses that some other Latin programs (alas) omit.
3rd year Latin is a luxurious survey of a wide variety of Latin authors beginning with "late" Latin (Medieval) and some fairly simple Aesop's tales and then progressing through Martial, Caesar, Horace and Livy followed in the next semester with Ovid, Catullus, and Cicero. The text we use is primarily *Wheelock's Latin Reader supplemented by the instructor with selections of Latin poetry and other authors. Latin 3 is a necessary step between the grammar years and AP Latin so it may not be replaced by a grammar focused year like Latin Transition.
Transition to AP Latin is an independent study course that simply gives a student one more year of translation practice and maturation before attempting AP Latin. This is a good option for students who started Latin early and need more time to work on writing skills and translation speed before jumping into the big league.
4th year Latin is an AP® course follows a College Board approved AP® syllabus to prepare students to take the AP® Latin exam each May for which they must make local arrangements. AP® Latin is the equivalent of a rigorous second year college Latin program so expect a carefully literary study of the Latin and the development of analytical writing skills (in English). Colleges/universities that approve AP® Latin credits generally grant 12 to 16 credit hours for successfully passing this exam (students must check with the intended college program for more information about required passing level).
*As an Amazon Associate we earn a small amount from qualifying purchases.
"I was a Lukeion student for three years a while ago. I am now a student at Pepperdine University. I study sports medicine and Italian on the pre-medicine track. I am writing this email to express my gratitude for the Lukeion Project. For obvious reasons, having studied Latin for three years was extremely useful when I began studying Italian. It was a large factor in why I continued my studies in Italian and am now pursuing the major. I am also the Italian tutor at my university. I have relied a lot on my strong grammatical background in Latin to help other students better understand Italian. For example, the simple explanation of switching the plural form of you to y'all has really helped the students I tutor. It has also been helpful in my STEM classes, especially anatomy since so many of the names are Latin-based. Additionally, I am a part of the Great Books curriculum at my school. We dealt a lot with ancient Greco-Roman history, which Lukeion gave me a great appreciation of (especially the Aeneid) and maybe even a little advantage over my classmates, to whom these cultures were completely foreign. Shoutout to the NLE! At one point, I wrote a paper on Dante's Divine Comedy and used a lot of my Lukeion background. While reading, I had noticed that Dante heavily emphasized the directions left and right and I remembered from one of my classes forever ago where the word for sinister comes from. Remembering those moral connotations and the history of left-handedness in the Roman military was crucial to my paper. I even tried reading what some of Dante's contemporaries wrote, however, I was only able to understand bits and pieces of their medieval Latin. It was really fun to be able to look at old writings for a language I haven't studied in years and still be able to understand a little. Plus, even though Dante wrote in Italian, he occasionally threw some Latin in there, so it was cool to be able to understand what he was saying. I also based one of my papers on one of Aesop's fables that we translated with Lukeion. I've noticed that translating things myself really made me remember them more, so I frequently think about the stories/phrases we read in those classes. Finally, I am going abroad to Italy this upcoming semester. My family and I went on a Lukeion trip to Italy back in 2014, before I had started the classes. I've been thinking about that trip a lot as I prepare for my semester abroad. I hope to travel like how we did with Lukeion, explore many similar sites, and make it as informational as it was ten years prior!
Overall, I just really wanted to express my appreciation for the Lukeion Project and let you know how much the strong background in Latin and Ancient Roman culture has helped me in my academic and personal life."
Testing into our Latin program after beginning elsewhere? Request a placement exam and succeed in that placement exam before registering for your choice of Latin course and Latin level because all refund policies will remain in effect for all applicants, regardless of their placement exam results.
In Latin 1-4, our classes meet once a week for an hour for a 16-week semester (each year of Latin is two semesters, register for a&b). In the first 2 years of Latin, students submit weekly translation assignments in which they are able to view the correct translations immediately after submitting their assignment. They also complete weekly graded quizzes online. Students should expect to dedicate 6-12 hours total per week to the study of Latin. We also offer a 5th, 6th, and 7th year of Latin through independent studies for students who successfully (score of 3 or higher) complete AP® Latin "early" enough in their high school years that they would like to keep their Latin fresh.
Our unique classroom environment is highly visual, interactive and engaging. Each session offers a fully illustrated explanation of the new material and review of older material. Our classroom allows each student to participate fully during class, ask questions about new material and respond during fun but competitive drills. Each Latin level has access to specially developed games that help students practice the material painlessly. Homework is credited and quiz translations are graded by the instructor.
"We are grateful for this course. My son took a course last year from a different online class for Latin 1 and learned very little so he is having to retake the course. He is finally learning Latin and even enjoying the challenge. Thank you!" ~Latin 1 Lukeion parent
"I just wanted to drop a note saying thank you for the six years I spent at Lukeion. I'm half way through college now, and even though I'm (sadly!) no longer taking Greek and Latin, so much of what you taught me continues to be central to my academic success.
On the one hand, the appreciation for the classics that you instilled in me has really shaped my college experience. On a very concrete level, I was able to test out of four semesters of Latin, which was a great savings. Also, I'm at Columbia University, which requires students to take essentially a semester of ancient Greek & Roman literature and a semester of ancient philosophy, and I've been really comfortable with all the authors on these syllabi (and even impressed my professor by close-reading part of the Odyssey in the original Greek!). In fact, I chose to take an additional course on Greek philosophy and enjoyed it so much that I declared a minor in Philosophy.
What has benefited me even more deeply, however, was the work ethic and study skills that you taught to everyone at Lukeion. I don't think anyone else in my life has had such an impact in teaching me how to learn and how to succeed at mastering any kind of difficult material. Every time I sit down with flashcards or start copying out my notes, I'm grateful that you taught me to actively engage with material instead of simply re-reading my textbook and hoping to absorb it by osmosis. Every time I'm tempted not to study at all, I can almost hear Mrs. Barr reminding us to be strict with our evil twin who wants us to fail at Latin. Writing essays for post-AP Latin taught me how to do a rigorous, detailed close reading (and how to be careful with citations!).
One final story: Lukeion also helped me to find my best friend at college! A few weeks into my freshman year, I was standing in line at the dining hall talking to a classmate, when I heard someone behind me say, "Excuse, did you just say you studied Greek online?" I didn't know the girl behind me, but she said she also studied Greek and Latin, so we started comparing the authors we'd read. And when it turned out that the lists we'd read were identical, we realized that we'd both taken Greek with Mr. Barr and Latin with Mrs. Barr! Swapping Lukeion memories was such a bond that two years later, A.N. and I have become incredibly close friends, talking and spending time together almost every day." --Lukeion graduate of Latin and Greek
RECOMMENDED Latin Program Complements:
Meet the Romans -- recording only, spring semester only
*Available mid-February-May 1. The Romans had a profound influence on western society in architecture, politics, art, city planning, legal matters, warfare and more. This workshop is a great introduction to the Romans or a fun refresher for those who just love the ancient world. Great for those studying Latin and cultural topics from the National Latin Exam. We include the founding myths, early history, Republican political institutions, transformation to empire, what Romans wore, their homes, engineering and more. We expect students of all ages for this highly informative class!
[View all our other workshops]
Review for Rising Latin 2 (self-paced program available summer only) and
Review for Rising Latin 3 (also a self-paced program available summer only)
Students should purchase *Thirty-Eight Latin Stories, Groton & May, 5th edition. Students are assigned a series of translation passages. As they review the appropriate chapter of Wheelock and complete each chapter they will view the 15-20 minute recording covering a careful translation of the assignment. These workshops are a perfect way to keep Latin fresh over summer months at one's own pace. Has it been a couple of years since you completed Wheelock? Sign up for both for a full review of the textbook and 38 recorded passages.
PLEASE NOTE: Rising 2 reviews Wheelock, chapters 1-19. Rising 3 reviews Wheelock, chapters 20-40.
These correspond to Lukeion Latin 1 & 2 (other programs: expect to take three years to cover Latin grammar instead of two years).
**As an Amazon Associate we earn a small amount from qualifying purchases.
Students who plan to take AP Latin should sign up for our Classical History Series (at least the spring Roman History semester course) and our summer recorded workshops Iliad and Odyssey if it has been more than a year since they've had a close reading of both epics.. In AP Latin we also focus on effective an analytical writing. Any of our writing courses (or courses that have research projects) will be helpful to an AP Latin student.
There are many language products on the market targeting home educators. Most of these are designed for teachers (usually mom or dad) who have little experience with a Classical language and no time to master one. While this sounds like an appealing feature, the end result is, too often, years of busy work with no appreciable gains in language skills. After hours of drills, chants and worksheets, many students have no idea how to use a dative, subjunctive, or participle. Two or three years in drill-focused programs often provide learners no more than a couple month’s head start over peers who have had no Latin at all. Through our live online program, a skilled Latin teacher is now available at a student's own home.
When The Lukeion Project was founded in 2005, all our students were home educated. Since then we have attracted students from around the globe and from a wide variety of educational circumstances. All of our college-preparatory/mastery-based Latin courses are taught by credentialed educators with years of experience. Many students from brick-and-mortar schools are joining our classes either as an enrichment or as a cooperative addition to a student's academic program. Many adults, especially from medical, scientific, and legal fields, are joining us as well.
"I took Latin I-V with you a few years ago, and I am now almost done with my first semester at the University of Dallas. I would like to thank you for being my Latin teacher in middle and high school--you provided me with a very solid understanding of the language. I'm sure a lot of your former students say this, but thank you for the writing assignments. The analysis skills you taught us in AP Latin and developed in Latin V have been tremendously helpful, and not only as I was writing the semester paper for my Latin class. My English professor appreciated that I came into the semester able to write clear, concise prose, and that I knew how to analyze texts rather than summarizing them. Anyways, thank you again."
Educational pace & WHY we recommend national exams
Our Latin program is geared for those working at high school level and above. Much younger gifted students working at those levels can join us though, elsewhere, their age normally prohibits them. At The Lukeion Project, students take the National Latin Exam each corresponding year. This is our first level of quality control assurance to students and parents that they are mastering Latin rather than playing at it to keep busy. Likewise, the NLE is proof positive to everyone who evaluates a student's transcript in the future that he or she is completing Latin with a high level of competence. After 2nd or 3rd year Latin, students are also ready for the SAT Latin special subject test or Latin CLEP. In their 4th year they are ready to try out AP Latin and take the AP Latin exam in May to win two years (usually 16 credits) of college language credits (consult your intended institution for specifics). Success on these exams can mean greatly improved admission rates to colleges, scholarship money, and hundreds of dollars saved by testing out of college language courses.
There are many popular and expensive programs out there that won't come close to preparing your student for any of these things. If you are considering another Latin program that does not prepare a student for AP Latin in their fourth year, please choose a different approach. All national and college exams are based on the Classical languages, not on later Latin and medieval forms nor on the greatly simplified "teacher friendly" approaches on the market. At the Lukeion Project we focus on Golden Latin which will enable the student to read the full range of Latin readings. Any student who successfully completes 2 or more years of Latin at The Lukeion Project should be able to test out of some portion (if not all) of college language requirements at college or university institutions that offer Latin. For those who plan to pursue Latin as a college major, this means students begin their college Latin experience with upper level seminars (200-300 level) starting at day 1.
Recent note to one of our upper level Latin students from the Chair at a Classics department where she has gained permission to take classes as a high schooler:
"Dear {M.], Those are excellent (AP Latin and SAT Latin) scores! ... Your studies sound very similar to the training we would provide at UNC, so it should be an easy transition for you. It sounds to me like you are ideally suited to take LAT 221 or 223 in the fall. We are also offering a course at a higher level, LATN 331 Roman Historians. If that subject is of particular interest to you, you might want to try it. I think you would be able to do the work, but it would certainly be more challenging than 221 or 223 (300 level courses have, in general, twice the reading assignments of 200 level courses). Very few entering first-year students start in 300 level courses (maybe one every three or four years), but it is an option." [Update: this Lukeion Student was happily accepted into this highly competitive Classics Program for the 2019 Autumn semester]
What we do in our Latin program
Our Latin program is geared for those working at high school level and above. *Wheelock's Latin has been perfected through the years to combine a heavy emphasis on tools and grammar plus the opportunity to read real Latin beginning with the first chapter. This textbook is grammar-focused and gives the student all the tools he or she needs to read Latin. Students should start this high school level course around age 14 or 15 (gifted students are ready sooner). It is best to wait until formal reasoning and executive function mature, something called the LOGIC stage in the trivium/Classical education. Students who successfully complete Latin 1 starting at age 15 will have plenty of time to complete AP Latin in their senior year. Students who start Latin even younger now have several options beyond the AP Level.
We now offer an optional bridge year between Latin year 2 & 3. Students who would prefer to review and reinforce their grammar & vocabulary plus gain more translation experience before starting our Latin 3 Survey course may now participation in our Transition courses (1 year course, primus & secundus). Students who join us from other Latin programs may find that jumping into Transition Secundus will reinforce ablative absolute, indirect statement, and then supply all the subjunctive clauses that some other Latin programs (alas) omit.
3rd year Latin is a luxurious survey of a wide variety of Latin authors beginning with "late" Latin (Medieval) and some fairly simple Aesop's tales and then progressing through Martial, Caesar, Horace and Livy followed in the next semester with Ovid, Catullus, and Cicero. The text we use is primarily *Wheelock's Latin Reader supplemented by the instructor with selections of Latin poetry and other authors. Latin 3 is a necessary step between the grammar years and AP Latin so it may not be replaced by a grammar focused year like Latin Transition.
Transition to AP Latin is an independent study course that simply gives a student one more year of translation practice and maturation before attempting AP Latin. This is a good option for students who started Latin early and need more time to work on writing skills and translation speed before jumping into the big league.
4th year Latin is an AP® course follows a College Board approved AP® syllabus to prepare students to take the AP® Latin exam each May for which they must make local arrangements. AP® Latin is the equivalent of a rigorous second year college Latin program so expect a carefully literary study of the Latin and the development of analytical writing skills (in English). Colleges/universities that approve AP® Latin credits generally grant 12 to 16 credit hours for successfully passing this exam (students must check with the intended college program for more information about required passing level).
*As an Amazon Associate we earn a small amount from qualifying purchases.
"I was a Lukeion student for three years a while ago. I am now a student at Pepperdine University. I study sports medicine and Italian on the pre-medicine track. I am writing this email to express my gratitude for the Lukeion Project. For obvious reasons, having studied Latin for three years was extremely useful when I began studying Italian. It was a large factor in why I continued my studies in Italian and am now pursuing the major. I am also the Italian tutor at my university. I have relied a lot on my strong grammatical background in Latin to help other students better understand Italian. For example, the simple explanation of switching the plural form of you to y'all has really helped the students I tutor. It has also been helpful in my STEM classes, especially anatomy since so many of the names are Latin-based. Additionally, I am a part of the Great Books curriculum at my school. We dealt a lot with ancient Greco-Roman history, which Lukeion gave me a great appreciation of (especially the Aeneid) and maybe even a little advantage over my classmates, to whom these cultures were completely foreign. Shoutout to the NLE! At one point, I wrote a paper on Dante's Divine Comedy and used a lot of my Lukeion background. While reading, I had noticed that Dante heavily emphasized the directions left and right and I remembered from one of my classes forever ago where the word for sinister comes from. Remembering those moral connotations and the history of left-handedness in the Roman military was crucial to my paper. I even tried reading what some of Dante's contemporaries wrote, however, I was only able to understand bits and pieces of their medieval Latin. It was really fun to be able to look at old writings for a language I haven't studied in years and still be able to understand a little. Plus, even though Dante wrote in Italian, he occasionally threw some Latin in there, so it was cool to be able to understand what he was saying. I also based one of my papers on one of Aesop's fables that we translated with Lukeion. I've noticed that translating things myself really made me remember them more, so I frequently think about the stories/phrases we read in those classes. Finally, I am going abroad to Italy this upcoming semester. My family and I went on a Lukeion trip to Italy back in 2014, before I had started the classes. I've been thinking about that trip a lot as I prepare for my semester abroad. I hope to travel like how we did with Lukeion, explore many similar sites, and make it as informational as it was ten years prior!
Overall, I just really wanted to express my appreciation for the Lukeion Project and let you know how much the strong background in Latin and Ancient Roman culture has helped me in my academic and personal life."
Testing into our Latin program after beginning elsewhere? Request a placement exam and succeed in that placement exam before registering for your choice of Latin course and Latin level because all refund policies will remain in effect for all applicants, regardless of their placement exam results.
In Latin 1-4, our classes meet once a week for an hour for a 16-week semester (each year of Latin is two semesters, register for a&b). In the first 2 years of Latin, students submit weekly translation assignments in which they are able to view the correct translations immediately after submitting their assignment. They also complete weekly graded quizzes online. Students should expect to dedicate 6-12 hours total per week to the study of Latin. We also offer a 5th, 6th, and 7th year of Latin through independent studies for students who successfully (score of 3 or higher) complete AP® Latin "early" enough in their high school years that they would like to keep their Latin fresh.
Our unique classroom environment is highly visual, interactive and engaging. Each session offers a fully illustrated explanation of the new material and review of older material. Our classroom allows each student to participate fully during class, ask questions about new material and respond during fun but competitive drills. Each Latin level has access to specially developed games that help students practice the material painlessly. Homework is credited and quiz translations are graded by the instructor.
"We are grateful for this course. My son took a course last year from a different online class for Latin 1 and learned very little so he is having to retake the course. He is finally learning Latin and even enjoying the challenge. Thank you!" ~Latin 1 Lukeion parent
"I just wanted to drop a note saying thank you for the six years I spent at Lukeion. I'm half way through college now, and even though I'm (sadly!) no longer taking Greek and Latin, so much of what you taught me continues to be central to my academic success.
On the one hand, the appreciation for the classics that you instilled in me has really shaped my college experience. On a very concrete level, I was able to test out of four semesters of Latin, which was a great savings. Also, I'm at Columbia University, which requires students to take essentially a semester of ancient Greek & Roman literature and a semester of ancient philosophy, and I've been really comfortable with all the authors on these syllabi (and even impressed my professor by close-reading part of the Odyssey in the original Greek!). In fact, I chose to take an additional course on Greek philosophy and enjoyed it so much that I declared a minor in Philosophy.
What has benefited me even more deeply, however, was the work ethic and study skills that you taught to everyone at Lukeion. I don't think anyone else in my life has had such an impact in teaching me how to learn and how to succeed at mastering any kind of difficult material. Every time I sit down with flashcards or start copying out my notes, I'm grateful that you taught me to actively engage with material instead of simply re-reading my textbook and hoping to absorb it by osmosis. Every time I'm tempted not to study at all, I can almost hear Mrs. Barr reminding us to be strict with our evil twin who wants us to fail at Latin. Writing essays for post-AP Latin taught me how to do a rigorous, detailed close reading (and how to be careful with citations!).
One final story: Lukeion also helped me to find my best friend at college! A few weeks into my freshman year, I was standing in line at the dining hall talking to a classmate, when I heard someone behind me say, "Excuse, did you just say you studied Greek online?" I didn't know the girl behind me, but she said she also studied Greek and Latin, so we started comparing the authors we'd read. And when it turned out that the lists we'd read were identical, we realized that we'd both taken Greek with Mr. Barr and Latin with Mrs. Barr! Swapping Lukeion memories was such a bond that two years later, A.N. and I have become incredibly close friends, talking and spending time together almost every day." --Lukeion graduate of Latin and Greek
RECOMMENDED Latin Program Complements:
Meet the Romans -- recording only, spring semester only
*Available mid-February-May 1. The Romans had a profound influence on western society in architecture, politics, art, city planning, legal matters, warfare and more. This workshop is a great introduction to the Romans or a fun refresher for those who just love the ancient world. Great for those studying Latin and cultural topics from the National Latin Exam. We include the founding myths, early history, Republican political institutions, transformation to empire, what Romans wore, their homes, engineering and more. We expect students of all ages for this highly informative class!
[View all our other workshops]
Review for Rising Latin 2 (self-paced program available summer only) and
Review for Rising Latin 3 (also a self-paced program available summer only)
Students should purchase *Thirty-Eight Latin Stories, Groton & May, 5th edition. Students are assigned a series of translation passages. As they review the appropriate chapter of Wheelock and complete each chapter they will view the 15-20 minute recording covering a careful translation of the assignment. These workshops are a perfect way to keep Latin fresh over summer months at one's own pace. Has it been a couple of years since you completed Wheelock? Sign up for both for a full review of the textbook and 38 recorded passages.
PLEASE NOTE: Rising 2 reviews Wheelock, chapters 1-19. Rising 3 reviews Wheelock, chapters 20-40.
These correspond to Lukeion Latin 1 & 2 (other programs: expect to take three years to cover Latin grammar instead of two years).
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Students who plan to take AP Latin should sign up for our Classical History Series (at least the spring Roman History semester course) and our summer recorded workshops Iliad and Odyssey if it has been more than a year since they've had a close reading of both epics.. In AP Latin we also focus on effective an analytical writing. Any of our writing courses (or courses that have research projects) will be helpful to an AP Latin student.
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
-Aristotle
Placement
If your learner has been studying Latin elsewhere but would like to join our program, we offer a number of online computer scored placement exams. Placement is not necessary for students wanting to start with Latin 1, a high school level course. We recommend students wait until at least age 13 or 14 to begin Latin 1. Most elementary Latin experiences are insufficient to boost a student into second year Latin. We exuberantly and forcefully recommend that all middle school students take Barbarian Diagrammarian, a robust (yet fun) course that will place solid foundations towards all future language mastery and develop a bit of academic maturity that will greatly benefit all first year language students.
Testing into our Latin program after beginning elsewhere? Request a placement exam and succeed in that placement exam before registering for your choice of Latin course and Latin level because all refund policies will remain in effect for all applicants, regardless of their placement exam results. Before he or she sits for a placement exam, you should know a few details:
First, our Latin courses are offered at the high school level. If a student has enjoyed a few years of elementary level Latin, he or she should not expect to test into upper level Latin classes in most cases (though all students are welcome to take readiness exams - just ask). Also, our high school level Latin classes carry expectations that a student will be able to handle weekly translations and quizzes at the high school level. We heartily welcome our younger gifted students as long as they are ready to handle course expectations like specific due dates and timely submissions.
As you can expect, the quality and intensity of Latin study varies considerably among popular approaches today. A “year” of Latin can mean a great deal or it can mean almost nothing with respect to Latin mastery. Some popular (and pricey) programs offer almost no advanced Latin grammar while other programs are robust enough to allow a student to jump into our classes midstream without much trouble at all.
The approach we use at The Lukeion Project is to bring a student to a high level of language mastery after two years of grammar (Latin 1 and Latin 2). Latin 3 is a year of translation where students are expected to sample a wide range of authors and styles in pure (un-simplified) Latin. Finally, our AP Latin course is offered in the fourth year Latin. It is is the equivalent of a second year college Latin class since that, indeed, is how a student should "test" if he or she successfully passes the AP Latin exam.
To help students who have studied Latin grammar but do not feel very confident about their skills, we now also offer a course called Transition to Latin 3 (Primus and Secundus) to help students who have completed two grammar years but do not yet feel ready for the translations required in Latin 3. Transition does not replace Latin 3 but, instead, better prepares a hesitant student for Latin 3. To help students who have had a year of real translation but still do not feel ready for AP Latin, we now offer a Transition to Latin 4. This class is an independent study and translation of assigned readings and Cicero. There are no live class meetings for Transition to Latin 4.
Placement exams
All of our Latin levels are two semester courses. A year of Latin 1, for example, consists of Latin 1a (autumn) and Latin 1b (spring).
Students may test into our program as we move into a new semester. For a student to qualify to enter the tested level, he or she should earn at least 70% on the appropriate placement exam (preference being a minimum of 75%). These exams are similar to the final exam given to the whole class in the level prior. The results of the computer scored placement exam will appear after the student hits "submit" at the end of the placement exam. This will be your one chance for YOU to see the results (when your student hits submit). If your learner logs into the exam using his or her real name, however, we can still look at the results from our end and make recommendations. Contact our Latin program coordinator for a link to the placement exam: Amy Barr
Placement exams are designed to measure a student's Latin Mastery level. When you receive the link(s), be aware:
Current or Previous Henle Students:
Students who complete Henle typically test into Latin just midway through third semester (Latin 2a) and should ask start with a "readiness for Latin 2a" placement exam. In other words, completion of the whole Henle program is typically equivalent to first year Latin with some spill over into part of third semester (Latin 2a).
Testing into our Latin program after beginning elsewhere? Request a placement exam and succeed in that placement exam before registering for your choice of Latin course and Latin level because all refund policies will remain in effect for all applicants, regardless of their placement exam results. Before he or she sits for a placement exam, you should know a few details:
First, our Latin courses are offered at the high school level. If a student has enjoyed a few years of elementary level Latin, he or she should not expect to test into upper level Latin classes in most cases (though all students are welcome to take readiness exams - just ask). Also, our high school level Latin classes carry expectations that a student will be able to handle weekly translations and quizzes at the high school level. We heartily welcome our younger gifted students as long as they are ready to handle course expectations like specific due dates and timely submissions.
As you can expect, the quality and intensity of Latin study varies considerably among popular approaches today. A “year” of Latin can mean a great deal or it can mean almost nothing with respect to Latin mastery. Some popular (and pricey) programs offer almost no advanced Latin grammar while other programs are robust enough to allow a student to jump into our classes midstream without much trouble at all.
The approach we use at The Lukeion Project is to bring a student to a high level of language mastery after two years of grammar (Latin 1 and Latin 2). Latin 3 is a year of translation where students are expected to sample a wide range of authors and styles in pure (un-simplified) Latin. Finally, our AP Latin course is offered in the fourth year Latin. It is is the equivalent of a second year college Latin class since that, indeed, is how a student should "test" if he or she successfully passes the AP Latin exam.
To help students who have studied Latin grammar but do not feel very confident about their skills, we now also offer a course called Transition to Latin 3 (Primus and Secundus) to help students who have completed two grammar years but do not yet feel ready for the translations required in Latin 3. Transition does not replace Latin 3 but, instead, better prepares a hesitant student for Latin 3. To help students who have had a year of real translation but still do not feel ready for AP Latin, we now offer a Transition to Latin 4. This class is an independent study and translation of assigned readings and Cicero. There are no live class meetings for Transition to Latin 4.
Placement exams
All of our Latin levels are two semester courses. A year of Latin 1, for example, consists of Latin 1a (autumn) and Latin 1b (spring).
Students may test into our program as we move into a new semester. For a student to qualify to enter the tested level, he or she should earn at least 70% on the appropriate placement exam (preference being a minimum of 75%). These exams are similar to the final exam given to the whole class in the level prior. The results of the computer scored placement exam will appear after the student hits "submit" at the end of the placement exam. This will be your one chance for YOU to see the results (when your student hits submit). If your learner logs into the exam using his or her real name, however, we can still look at the results from our end and make recommendations. Contact our Latin program coordinator for a link to the placement exam: Amy Barr
Placement exams are designed to measure a student's Latin Mastery level. When you receive the link(s), be aware:
- All placement exams are closed book/no notes/no dictionary
- Proctor the student during the exam to ensure the student does not seek outside help.
- Students should never leave anything blank and should provide a best guess answer for every question. The exams are timed but with with ample time.
- Students should take the exam only once and use his or her first/last name to allow for a good evaluation of Latin level.
Current or Previous Henle Students:
Students who complete Henle typically test into Latin just midway through third semester (Latin 2a) and should ask start with a "readiness for Latin 2a" placement exam. In other words, completion of the whole Henle program is typically equivalent to first year Latin with some spill over into part of third semester (Latin 2a).
Latin Course Descriptions
Latin 1 & 2
There is no prerequisite for Latin 1a nor is a placement exam necessary (though we ENTHUSIASTICALLY recommend Barbarian Diagrammarian for best academic and life success). Students who want to join at a level above 1a should complete a placement exam before registration. Students use *Wheelock's Latin, 7th Edition
For Latin 1a & 1b (the full academic year), we offer five session options:
We recommend the workshop Meet the Romans during spring of 1st year Latin. For Latin 2a & 2b (the full academic year), we offer four session options.
Amy Barr Sue Fisher K. Powell |
Latin Transition to Latin 3
Some students feel they could use a bit more reinforcement before starting 3rd year. Latin Transition consists of 2 semester courses: Primus & Secundus. These courses are an optional intermediary before starting third year Latin that serve as an excellent way to review and reinforce grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of *Wheelock's Latin while gaining important translation experience. Students will also learn to use the translated content and cultural background to construct two well-crafted five-paragraph essays (Primus) and one research paper (Secundus). An excellent choice for students who...
Required Texts:
Contact the instructor - Sue Fisher |
Latin 3
New-to-Lukeion students should complete a placement exam before registration. This course is designed for students who confidently (grade of 88 or above) completed the Latin 2b course with us. 3rd year Latin is a survey of Latin authors. Students get to enjoy the fruits of their hard labors by translating unaltered passages from the best authors in the Latin language. Expect to translate 50-80 lines a week and cover passages from the Vulgate, Livy, Horace, Catullus, Cicero, Caesar, Ovid and more. Students recite in class and need a mic. We'll also learn more about Latin literature in context with so many great cultural details richly embedded in original Latin! 3rd year students have several analytical writing assignments in preparation for AP Latin and future academic success. Students younger than 10/11th grade should take our Skillful Scribbler course. Students 10/11th grade take our College Composition course. Required: For Latin 3 a & b (the full academic year) we offer two times (Eastern time, adjust for your zone).
Transition to AP Latin Younger students may wish to add another year of translation experience before attempting AP Latin. This is an Independent Study of Cicero using Introducing Cicero. Students are kept on task with assignments that close on time to build translation experience without bulking out the schedule. |
AP® Latin 4
New-to-Lukeion students complete the Latin 4 placement exam and get instructor approval before registration. This advanced course prepares students to take the AP® Latin Exam (students must make their own local arrangements! We only provide the course, not the exam). The AP® Latin exam includes a selection from Vergil's Aeneid (autumn) and a selection from Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars (spring). Amy Barr, (MA, Latin, OSU), offers a rounded presentation of the life and times of both authors. Exams and papers prepare students to respond appropriately to AP® style essay question prompts. Lukeion Stats:
Required:
Contact the instructor - Amy Barr |
Latin V, VI, VII - Independent Study
No live meeting times makes this a great option for upper level students with busy schedules. These independent study courses offer accountability without too much structure for our most advanced Latin students.
Prerequisite: any students who successfully complete AP Latin with The Lukeion Project may automatically register for Latin 5, 6, & 7 as an independent study.
Students joining us from other programs must (1) earn a 3 or higher on the AP Latin Exam (analytical writing skills are ASSUMED so if your program did not offer that framework, these studies may not be a good fit for you) and (2) complete a placement exam.
This is an independent honors level study of advanced Latin. Students without good independent self-starting, skills in extended translation, and skills in writing analytical essays should not apply for this course. Students should have not only completed all upper level grammar concepts, they should be comfortable translating 60-90 lines of Latin per week without hand-holding.
Course content:
Students are assigned a weekly translation assignment for continued development in extended translations in Latin as they bridge the years between AP Latin and college. Students are also assigned two analytical writing projects each semester to keep their college-level philology essay skills (as they learned in AP Latin) in fine form.
Students choose: Terence (early Roman comedy); Ovid's *Metamorphoses or Cicero (a selection of readings). Students still complete the National Latin Exam (5 or 6) in these courses. Latin 5, 6, 7 are paced at college level 300-400 level.
NB: This is an independent study. Students who need a lot of guidance, academic hand-holding to stay on schedule, or have not worked diligently in AP level analytical essays may struggle in this course.
"I wanted to write to you to let you know what I've been doing with Latin and show you something fun I did recently. Because I was also taking AP Chemistry, AP Music Theory, and AP Calculus AB last year, I decided not to take Mrs. Barr's AP Latin class (I was sorry not to, since I'd heard it was fun), and to instead take another AP Latin class that was supposed to have a lighter workload. It ended up being a pretty bad class - so that he didn't have to grade it, the teacher didn't assign any translation homework, which seems like it's necessary for a Latin class! - but Latin 3 had prepared me so well that I ended up scoring a 5 on the exam anyways. Thank you so much for everything you did and taught me; that 5 was 100% due to the translation and scanning skills I learned in your classes. I am now doing an online post-AP-Latin translation class through St. Katharine's University, and it's much better (unlike my AP Latin class, there's homework, translating in class, word studies, etc.) though still not as good as Lukeion." C.K., Former Lukeion Student
*As an Amazon Associate we earn a small amount from qualifying purchases.
No live meeting times makes this a great option for upper level students with busy schedules. These independent study courses offer accountability without too much structure for our most advanced Latin students.
Prerequisite: any students who successfully complete AP Latin with The Lukeion Project may automatically register for Latin 5, 6, & 7 as an independent study.
Students joining us from other programs must (1) earn a 3 or higher on the AP Latin Exam (analytical writing skills are ASSUMED so if your program did not offer that framework, these studies may not be a good fit for you) and (2) complete a placement exam.
This is an independent honors level study of advanced Latin. Students without good independent self-starting, skills in extended translation, and skills in writing analytical essays should not apply for this course. Students should have not only completed all upper level grammar concepts, they should be comfortable translating 60-90 lines of Latin per week without hand-holding.
Course content:
Students are assigned a weekly translation assignment for continued development in extended translations in Latin as they bridge the years between AP Latin and college. Students are also assigned two analytical writing projects each semester to keep their college-level philology essay skills (as they learned in AP Latin) in fine form.
Students choose: Terence (early Roman comedy); Ovid's *Metamorphoses or Cicero (a selection of readings). Students still complete the National Latin Exam (5 or 6) in these courses. Latin 5, 6, 7 are paced at college level 300-400 level.
NB: This is an independent study. Students who need a lot of guidance, academic hand-holding to stay on schedule, or have not worked diligently in AP level analytical essays may struggle in this course.
"I wanted to write to you to let you know what I've been doing with Latin and show you something fun I did recently. Because I was also taking AP Chemistry, AP Music Theory, and AP Calculus AB last year, I decided not to take Mrs. Barr's AP Latin class (I was sorry not to, since I'd heard it was fun), and to instead take another AP Latin class that was supposed to have a lighter workload. It ended up being a pretty bad class - so that he didn't have to grade it, the teacher didn't assign any translation homework, which seems like it's necessary for a Latin class! - but Latin 3 had prepared me so well that I ended up scoring a 5 on the exam anyways. Thank you so much for everything you did and taught me; that 5 was 100% due to the translation and scanning skills I learned in your classes. I am now doing an online post-AP-Latin translation class through St. Katharine's University, and it's much better (unlike my AP Latin class, there's homework, translating in class, word studies, etc.) though still not as good as Lukeion." C.K., Former Lukeion Student
*As an Amazon Associate we earn a small amount from qualifying purchases.
What age is right to start Lukeion Latin or Greek?
Those who teach modern languages generally agree that the earlier children begin to learn a spoken language, the easier it will be for them to achieve native or near native proficiency. Partnered with the first notion is the idea that students who begin language later will have a more difficult time and limited success.
This theory was first put forth in a 1967 study which outlined the idea of critical windows for language acquisition. This 40-year old hypothesis which passes as fact in some circles, affects the decisions that we make about when it is best to attempt a new language, and when we should abandon hope for achievement.
Since we only offer Latin for students working at the high school level at The Lukeion Project, parents ask if their older child (12-18) is going to be at a disadvantage for starting Latin so "late" or, conversely, if there is an advantage for children to begin a study of Latin during the elementary years. In addition, many adults have an interest in learning Latin but fret about their abilities to "keep up" with younger language learners.
Start Latin Once the Logic Stage Starts
A 1967 study proposed that the human brain was equipped with learning windows for speech, reading, writing, and learning the sounds of a language. Any good parent knows that children are powerful mimics at a young age and this study confirmed that hunch. The researchers in this study proposed that the learning window snaps shut at puberty. This assertion has had a big impact on education in America, especially as parents blame themselves for missing THE window, while older learners at college and beyond gave themselves the excuse to quit language studies prematurely.
While the "critical period" hypothesis is now spouted as truth, detractors have been successfully poking holes in this theory for the past 30 years. More recent research in neurology has demonstrated that, while language learning is different in childhood and adulthood because of developmental differences in the brain, "in important respects adults have superior language learning capabilities" (Walsh and Diller, 1978). The advantage for adults is that the neural cells responsible for higher-order linguistic processes such as understanding semantic relations and grammatical sensitivity best develop with age. Especially in the areas of vocabulary and language structure, adults are actually better language learners than children.
An experiment in 1973 with a group of American English speakers learning German, showed that adults did significantly better than children after 10 lessons. Another study in 1978 not only confirmed the first study (this time the language was Dutch), but added that twelve to fifteen year old adolescents scored the best, the adults came second, and children less than ten years old ranked the last.
Regardless of our ability to soak up a native-sounding accent, our brains are not equipped to think analytically about language and complex grammar until we are somewhere between the ages of 12 to 15. So even if a child works at French (or whatever language) from a fairly young age, he or she will not normally master complicated French grammar or read sophisticated French literature until he or she reaches the formal reasoning stage between ages 12 to 15.
So even if mastery of proper accent can only be achieved at a young age (for which there is diminishing evidence), remember that Latin and Classical Greek are not usually taught as a spoken languages. They are intended to be read. Having an accent like Sophocles or Caesar seldom makes the list of reasons to take Latin or Greek. This is not to say that starting Latin or Greek at age 7 or 8 will do damage to a language learner (unless it is taught so that a student becomes bored or resistant) but the hard work of comprehension and translation will not usually take place until after he or she is 12 or older.
The cognitive advantages to taking Latin or Greek later are numerous but mastering organization, self-control, and self-motivation are other good reasons to wait for a bit of maturity.
Finally, a more mature student is better equipped to communicate well with the instructor and ask insightful questions.
If you have a student aged 13 or 14 or even older...or if you as an adult would like to take these languages: rejoice! 'Older' is the perfect age to start Latin or Greek at The Lukeion Project.
This theory was first put forth in a 1967 study which outlined the idea of critical windows for language acquisition. This 40-year old hypothesis which passes as fact in some circles, affects the decisions that we make about when it is best to attempt a new language, and when we should abandon hope for achievement.
Since we only offer Latin for students working at the high school level at The Lukeion Project, parents ask if their older child (12-18) is going to be at a disadvantage for starting Latin so "late" or, conversely, if there is an advantage for children to begin a study of Latin during the elementary years. In addition, many adults have an interest in learning Latin but fret about their abilities to "keep up" with younger language learners.
Start Latin Once the Logic Stage Starts
A 1967 study proposed that the human brain was equipped with learning windows for speech, reading, writing, and learning the sounds of a language. Any good parent knows that children are powerful mimics at a young age and this study confirmed that hunch. The researchers in this study proposed that the learning window snaps shut at puberty. This assertion has had a big impact on education in America, especially as parents blame themselves for missing THE window, while older learners at college and beyond gave themselves the excuse to quit language studies prematurely.
While the "critical period" hypothesis is now spouted as truth, detractors have been successfully poking holes in this theory for the past 30 years. More recent research in neurology has demonstrated that, while language learning is different in childhood and adulthood because of developmental differences in the brain, "in important respects adults have superior language learning capabilities" (Walsh and Diller, 1978). The advantage for adults is that the neural cells responsible for higher-order linguistic processes such as understanding semantic relations and grammatical sensitivity best develop with age. Especially in the areas of vocabulary and language structure, adults are actually better language learners than children.
An experiment in 1973 with a group of American English speakers learning German, showed that adults did significantly better than children after 10 lessons. Another study in 1978 not only confirmed the first study (this time the language was Dutch), but added that twelve to fifteen year old adolescents scored the best, the adults came second, and children less than ten years old ranked the last.
Regardless of our ability to soak up a native-sounding accent, our brains are not equipped to think analytically about language and complex grammar until we are somewhere between the ages of 12 to 15. So even if a child works at French (or whatever language) from a fairly young age, he or she will not normally master complicated French grammar or read sophisticated French literature until he or she reaches the formal reasoning stage between ages 12 to 15.
So even if mastery of proper accent can only be achieved at a young age (for which there is diminishing evidence), remember that Latin and Classical Greek are not usually taught as a spoken languages. They are intended to be read. Having an accent like Sophocles or Caesar seldom makes the list of reasons to take Latin or Greek. This is not to say that starting Latin or Greek at age 7 or 8 will do damage to a language learner (unless it is taught so that a student becomes bored or resistant) but the hard work of comprehension and translation will not usually take place until after he or she is 12 or older.
The cognitive advantages to taking Latin or Greek later are numerous but mastering organization, self-control, and self-motivation are other good reasons to wait for a bit of maturity.
Finally, a more mature student is better equipped to communicate well with the instructor and ask insightful questions.
If you have a student aged 13 or 14 or even older...or if you as an adult would like to take these languages: rejoice! 'Older' is the perfect age to start Latin or Greek at The Lukeion Project.