Why study Latin?

That is question I often get when speaking about homeschooling. Why study a dead language as it is still sometimes called? Even with my lack of formative classical education this is one thing I can now speak of with complete confidence. I guess when we started learning Latin several years ago I wasn't completely sure about it either. But I kept reading about the benefits and became completely convinced this was a path my children would take. Allison is in the 3rd grade and is in her second year of Latin. After successfully completing Prima Latina we have now moved on the Latina Christiana I. These materials are put out by Memoria Press and samples can be viewed on their website. After the completion of Latina Christian we move to
Latin in the Christian Trivium. This is such an outstanding program. It is intended to be a high school level course but can be started earlier if the student has a strong Latin foundation.
So what good is all of this? Well, for starters Latin increases our English vocabulary. About half of our language comes from Latin. A ten year study showed that students that have a strong Latin background score an average of 157 points higher on the SAT. Latin also increases the knowledge of English grammar, which in turn creates better writers. Latin is also the key to the modern Romance languages so a knowledge of Latin will hasten your learning of other languages. Many careers require a knowledge of Latin, such as medical, legal and hard sciences. But most of all studying Latin requires an intellectual discipline that trains the mind. This is something that will enhance all learning. So even if they grumble about it and grow tired of the difficulty it is training their mind in a way that will help them for life.