Saturday 12 July 2014

No need to be a Classicist to teach this book!


Thoughts of a Teaching Assistant in a Norfolk school, who was persuaded to take on the teaching of Minimus:

Initially, when I was asked to consider teaching Latin I was pretty apprehensive. I am not a natural linguist and had no previous experience with the language; It was the beginning of my first job in a school environment, and the first time I would be responsible for children's learning in such a way. However, as a teaching assistant pursuing a teaching career it was a brilliant opportunity to develop my skills in Latin along side the children, as well as to develop my skills as both a teaching assistant and teacher.  The Minimus resources have been extremely useful taking a lot of the pressure out of planning and lesson ideas. Even when I chose to go beyond the resources and ideas in the teacher's book, they provided a solid cross curricular base point, full of relevant information. I've really enjoyed my time teaching Latin so far, and fully intend to take it on as my language of choice later on in my career, as a primary school teacher. The children enjoy it, and are constantly asking me when our next session will be and what we will be doing. Contradictory to the beliefs of some, Latin is, in my opinion, entirely relevant to children today. It brings history to life and provides them with an insight and understanding of their spoken language that they will not necessarily achieve through more commonly popular languages such as Spanish or French.

 

Training Days

There are two Training Days on the calendar at the moment. The first is on Saturday 8th November, 2014, at
James Allen’s Girls’ School, Dulwich, London. Then there's one in Bristol on Saturday 7th February, 2015, at the Red Maids School. Both are full day courses with lunch included, and both cost £60.

Both Training Days are suitable for teachers, TA's and volunteers. The course will include an overview of the content and principles of the book plus information on how the Primary Latin Project can support you in your teaching. We will explore how to teach Minimus in a club situation as well as on the timetable. These days are especially targeted at those new to Minimus teaching but everyone is welcome.

Download the application form for the Dulwich day here, and the Bristol day here