Teaching a Foreign Language Through Geography: Latin

For some homeschoolers, teaching Latin is a staple. Many moms and dads want to provide a classical education for their children. Or they see value in teaching Latin because it develops critical thinking skills and relates to vocabulary, the sciences, and more. Whatever your reasons for including Latin in your homeschool, teaching foreign language through geography can be fun!

Latin Curriculum Resources

There are several solid curriculum resources available that teach Latin and teach about the Roman world, which we have shared over the years. From those that provide materials for both teaching the language and history to those that help immerse your children in the past with hands-on-activities, there are several options to meet the needs of your child.

One of our favorites is Memoria Press. It is a leader in the homeschool industry in providing solid classical education materials. So whether you need to teach Latin as a language or teach about Ancient Rome, MP has you covered.

Check out Memoria Press resources in the following articles:

Another favorite with The Old Schoolhouse® family is JAM with Latin. This unique program teaches the fundamentals of Latin grammar. With your classroom, you receive access to video instructions, daily assignments and checklists, quizzes, tests, and more!

And finally, if you want to learn more about Ancient Rome, you can look into courses offered by Memoria Press or, for a more hands-on approach, check out Home School in the Woods. In the Project Passport World History Studies (grades 3–8), you and your children will travel through Ancient Rome completing as many as fifty projects! You can pick and choose from creating a scrapbook of sights, souvenirs, a lapbook, a timeline, and art projects. During your visits you will also listen to recordings about the ancient city and culture.

Learn more about Home School in the Woods by viewing the following articles:

Teaching a Foreign Language Through Geography: Latin

Traveling in Italy

A great way to learn more about the Latin language is by traveling through Italy (and other countries that were once part of the Roman Empire). So whether you visit in person or through online research, there are a few key places to stop at on your journey to learn Latin. Children can label parts of the Forum, Baths, or other locations with their Latin names while completing their travels.

Be sure to visit:

Colosseum (Rome)
Roman Forum (Rome)
Pantheon (Rome)
Baths of Caracalla (Rome) or the Roman Baths (Bath, England)
Circus Maximus (Rome)
Palatine Hill (Rome)
Trajan’s Column (Rome)
Hadrian’s Wall (Northern England)
Pont Du Gard (France)
Roman Theatre of Orange (France)
Emerita Augusta (Spain)
Valens Aqueduct (Turkey)

In addition to including Latin in these lessons, you can also include other languages as you learn about the Roman Empire. After all, Rome conquered a large portion of the Mediterranean. Many of those places were speaking a different language or would be in the future. For older children, you can research the history behind specific words and see if they are related to Latin.

Geography

In addition to labeling historical sites, children can label various places in the Roman Empire with both their English and Latin names. Print a map of Europe and Northern Africa, and open up your history books! Here are a few ideas of what to label:

Label the cities of the Roman Empire.
Map out the expansion of the Roman Empire.
Map the influx of outsiders into the Roman Empire (where they came from).
Label the historic sites you visited earlier.
Pick a few words that have their origins in Latin but are used in various countries. Label those words on the map. Here are a few ideas with Spanish words to get you started:
- Luna
- Paz
- Amigo
- Padre